Okon Bassey in Uyo
A coalition of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) led by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and African Human Development Centre (AHDC), has expressed fears of an outbreak of epidemic in Akwa Ibom State due to open defecation.
The CSOs at a-day symposium held in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom state capital said the condition could trigger serious health challenges amongst the about 7.2 million population of the state.
They noted that out of the 31 Local Government Areas, only one (Nsit Atai) has been certified and given Open Defecation Free (ODF) status.ex-raying the challenges hampering effective implementation of the Water Sanitation and Hyegene (WASH) policy in the state, they blamed poor funding of the the sector, due to Governor Udom Emmanuel’s inability to append his signature to the Water Resources Bill passed by the House of Assembly since July 19, 2022.
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) in – charge of AHDC, Prof Gabriel Umoh, who doubles as the Executive Director, IbomWASH, in a communique at the end of the conference, lamented poor funding and inadequate attention paid to sanitation programmes in the state, noting that the population lives in clear and present danger of being attacked by epidemic.
He noted the abysmal yearly percentages of budgetary allocations for WASH to include 6.06 in 2019, 3.83 in 2020 and 3.11 in 2021, lamenting that “in most cases, such cash had not been released for the implementation of the WASH policy in the
state.”
He said: “In Akwa Ibom state, available data indicate that the greater percentage of the population practicing open defecation increased from 4 to 11 percent between 2019 and 2021.
“People are still defecating into gutters, water bodies and bushes in the coastal and rural communities, while number of people with poor hyegene have also increased from 11 to 17 percent within the period under review.
“77 percent of the world drink water that is contaminated with only 47 percent have access to basic water services. Only 9 percent of urban dwellers accessed safely managed water, while access to water and sanitation in schools is 12 percent. Sanitation and water issues remain at 0.4 percent in hospitals and 7 percent in public places in the state.”
And, with only Nsit Atai, amongst the 31 LGAs certified and declared free of open defecation, Umoh, charged government, Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to collaborate with non state actors, to holistically drive the process towards giving the entire state the clean bill in order to safeguard the population from the malaise of water-borne diseases.
However, the Acting General Manager, Akwa Ibom Rural Water and Sanitation (AK-RUWATSAN), Mr. Saviour Udo, said government has been intervening to improve WASH policy in the state with provisions of toilet facilities and training of sanitation officials towards addressing the prevailing challenges in the sector.
