They cautioned against using the public convenient as its widely practice in the rural areas and slum settlements , described the health hazard associated with open defecation as exterminator, which could be prevented by keeping a healthy environment with constant washing of hands after toilet.
This was disclosed in this year EU/UNICEF hand washing day celebration in Awka, they charged people to maintain clean and healthy environment always.
Defecating in open fields, bushes and bodies of water, is widely practiced in Nigeria. Indeed, the country is one huge field, where people defecate without shame and without taking into consideration the impact of their actions on the health of others.
In many rural communities, people still build houses without provisions for toilets, or as the case may be, latrines, where waste can be emptied without others coming into contact with it.
Anambra state government with EU/UNICEF has challenged the residents of the state to refrain from unhealthy act, described the health implication of defecation in the open as a carrier of most communicable diseases which are regarded as the no one killer sicknesses in the developing countries
The commissioner however encouraged the people to cultivate the habit of constant washing of hands after toilet, as effort to prevent the spread of communicable diseases like cholera, Diarrhea and others in the state.
Although the poor in the society, especially those who reside in slums constitute the highest percentage of those without access to toilets, the whole society suffers the effects of open defecation by these people.
Governments are therefore called upon to invest more in the provision of water and public toilets, and create awareness on the dangers of open defecation.
