THIS PAPER recently reported that all of Iloilo’s 1,721 barangays have been certified as “zero open defecation” (ZOD) villages, making the province the third in the country to eradicate the unhygienic practice.
Iloilo province is also the first in Western Visayas to achieve such feat.
It’s good that residents of Iloilo are no longer into the unsanitary practice of relieving themselves just anywhere. The ideal really is for all households to have their respective sanitary toilets to avert environmental contamination and water-borne diseases.
Open defecation is a serious sanitation and health issue. Diarrhea caused by poor sanitation and unsafe water kills 315,000 children every year around the world. According to the Department of Health (DOH), around eight million Filipinos still openly defecate. We thus urge it to work with local government units (LGUs) and determine which households and barangays still need assistance for toilet facilities.
Come to think of it; the ongoing outbreak of cholera and acute gastroenteritis in Iloilo City could be due to open defecation that resulted to the contamination of water sources such as deep wells.
Access to health sanitation facilities is one of the aims of the Sustainable Development Goals One of its targets is to “achieve access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all and end open defecation, paying special attention to the needs of women and girls and those in vulnerable situations.”
We hope all households will have improved sanitation facilities and every Filipino will have access to toilets. Basic sanitation services such as toilets or latrines are important because the lack of these facilities results in diarrheal diseases and public safety is compromised.
LGUs should be more proactive in addressing this very basic need.
