Kwale county has made significant but still inadequate progress in ending open defaecation and improving sanitation, Health executive Francis Gwama has said.
He said the number of residents using toilets has risen to 42 per cent from last year’s 37 per cent.
Gwama said the county has been leading campaigns to achieve an open defaecation-free society since the inception of devolution to improve hygiene and people’s dignity.
“We are happy to announce that more people are embracing the use of toilets,” he said.
He said the county has entered into an agreement with the Kenya Sanitation Alliance to increase the construction and use of toilets in rural and urban areas. Gwama, however, deplored that open defecation is still a major problem in some areas despite awareness campaigns.
He said a section of residents in urban areas, especially Kwale town, defaecate in polythene and paper bags and urinate in water bottles.
Gwama said the residents then throw the wrapped faeces and urine into local vegetable kiosks and the bushes.
He said he has personally seen several cases where faeces are deposited recklessly, adding the issue requires immediate interventions.
The health executive said the practice is derailing the county’s efforts to end open defaecation.
Gwama said he did not expect the habit to thrive in towns, which he said increases the risk of waterborne diseases.
He said the unhygienic practice causes stomach-related diseases, such as cholera and typhoid among other ailments.
“It is the rainy season. Imagine water mixing with the human waste and going back to the river,” he said.
Open defaecation also pollutes the soil and crops as it finds its way to the river and pollutes fish and contaminates water.
He said the community should partner and assist one another to construct toilets to realise 100 per cent-free open defecation.
Gwama said the county cannot build toilets for everyone and residents must take personal initiative to dig latrines and make good use of them.
He said El Nino has flooded and swept away many toilets, especially in the grassroots where residents use local materials to construct them, leading to contamination of many water sources.
Gwama urged residents to drink treated water to avoid infections and diarrhoeal-related illnesses.
He said the county is distributing water purification tablets for residents.
