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Tuesday 20 November 2012

34 Million Nigerians defecate in the open - UN

The United Nations on Monday in Abuja ranked Nigeria among top five countries in the world with the largest number of people defecating in the open.

The UN, which in its recent report, revealed that 34 million Nigerians defecate in the public, however, expressed optimism that ending the unhealthy practice was possible.

The UNICEF Communication Specialist (Media and External Relations) in Nigeria, Mr. Geoffrey Njoku, in a statement on the World Toilet Day, said trends in the past five years allow for cautious optimism that significant progress would be made in decreasing the number of people globally who practise open defecation.

Quoting a joint UNICEF and World Health Organisation report of 2012, Njoku said, “It is estimated that 34 million Nigerians practise open defecation and Nigeria is amongst top five countries in the world with largest number of people defecating in the open.”

According to him, in Nigeria, it is estimated that diarrhoea

kills about 194,000 children under five every year while respiratory infections kill another 240,000.

“These are largely preventable with improvements in water, sanitation and hygiene,” he stressed.

Globally, UNICEF is supporting 50 countries including Nigeria to implement community approaches to total sanitation such as Community-Led Total Sanitation aimed at empowering communities to identify their sanitation challenges and take necessary actions to end open defecation.

He said, “CLTS aims to make all communities free of open defecation by focusing on social and behaviour change and the use of affordable, appropriate technologies.

Culled from The Punch Online


Top 5 Countries in the world? Not good!!! Why really do people defecate in the open? Is it just because of lack of toilets or is there any sort of satisfaction derived from doing it in the open? #puzzled


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