Fifty percent of Kenya's gross domestic product (GDP) is lost due to poor sanitation owing to the man hours spent tending the sick and medical expenses incurred by a majority of needy members of our communities, the Minister for Public Health and Sanitation, Beth Mugo has said.
Mugo who was speaking during the inauguration of a community led total sanitation coordination and knowledge hub and launch of open defecation free (ODF) 2013 campaign, said this scenario has indeed complicated other government's strategies outlined in the Vision 2030 economic blue print such as enhancement of the economic pillar.
The Millennium Development Goal (MDG) outlines that sanitation is a critical entry point to the achievement of most of the other goals as sanitation is across cutting issue.
The minister said “40 percent of diseases that affect humanity can be prevented through proper sanitation. Diarrhoeal diseases which are caused by poor sanitation are second leading killer of children under five years of age. Globally 1.5 million children die of diarrhoeal related diseases annually.”
ODF is part of the ministry's strategy to prevent and control diarrhoeal diseases, including cholera in Kenya being driven by the department of environmental health and sanitation in collaboration with Community – Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) activities in the Western and Nyanza Provinces.
The strategy is registering success, since September 2010, over 745 villages have been declared to have been declare to have achieved ODF status. The county of Busia with its 5 districts aspires and plans to achieve ODF status by 31st July 2011.
The minister said the remarkable progress is widely appreciated by the stakeholders including Dr. Kamal Kar, the founder of CLTS as they have developed capacities at the locational, divisional, district and county levels. The ministry's staff are dedicated and committed as they work along with untiring numerous community activists commonly natural leaders.
Crucially, the minister said there has been unparalleled political will at the highest level to rid the country of the scourge of open defecation in the 21st century, which is responsible for the vicious cycle of cholera out breaks.
Additionally, she said the National CLTS coordination and Knowledge Management Hub she inaugurated will serve as a platform for knowledge and information sharing not only in Kenya but all Africa countries implementing CLTS.
The hub will ensure that no part of the country is left behind and will oversee quality, capacity building of the ministry's staff and other partners' staff. It will also be involved in technical back stopping of the County governments, mobilization of resources for the campaign and avoidance of duplication of efforts or resources. It will farther ensure that partners do not follow strategies which are divergent to the government's as well as ensure regular availability of quality data for evidence based planning and monitoring.
World Health Organization (WHO), Representative, Dr Abdulla Jack said sanitation coverage in Kenya is low, with over 45 percent of the rural population not having access to basic sanitation.
Notwithstanding Kenya's recent progress, he said a recent WHO/UNICEF joint monitoring programme (JMP) report suggests that Kenya is not on track to achieve MDG target for sanitation.
Jack said in 2009 alone, over 3,000 people in Kenya suffered from cholera, which claimed of over 40 people, adding that poor sanitation and and unsafe drinking water together contribute to about 88 percent of diarrhea diseases which exact a heavy economic load, both on the public health care system for treatment and on families affected in terms of transport to clinics, medicines and lost productivity. They also adversely impact on school attendance and performance, particularly for girls and young women who must care for and assume the duties of ill parents and siblings.
He said that sanitation is really a behavior change issue. He challenged Kenyan to focus on a achieving sustained behavior change through various participatory tools and techniques to help communities realize the risk associated with open defecation and to take actions leading to construction and use of household latrines with any hardware subsidy. Where implemented correctly, CLTS has transformed whole communities and enabled countries that faced serious basic sanitation challenges like Bangladesh to achieve their MDG targets ahead of time.
The MidiaMax Network Ltd, chief executive officer (CEO), Pual Wanyaga said we are going to the basics to deal with complex problems in our societies. The success stories of the ODF campaign happening on the ground will be replicated everywhere in the county as they will be heard.
Wanyaga said it is such background effort that will transform this nation to an economic success. He said as a media its their role to partner with other stakeholders for the realization of a healthy nation.
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