Sanitation refers to all the interventions that aim to promote human health by ensuring access to a clean and healthy environment. Some of these interventions include the right disposal of human excreta, treatment of wastewater, and access to clean drinking water.
Globally, about 2.6 billion people lack proper sanitation, which contributes to about 10% of the global disease burden.
Poor sanitation is linked to diseases such as cholera, diarrhea, intestinal worms, and dysentery, among others. That is why using filters and devices like UV sanitizer is not only recommended but is a must in many regions. Poor sanitation also negatively affects economic and social development due to such problems as lost educational opportunities and malnutrition.
So, what are the sanitary measures we can take to protect our health?
- Improve Access to Clean and Safe Drinking Water
The United Nations provides that about 663 million people globally don’t have access to clean drinking water. Contaminated water transmits diseases such as typhoid, cholera, and dysentery. Improving access to clean drinking water, especially in developing countries, can reduce poverty, enhance economic growth, and improve the health of the communities living in these countries.
A few ways we can use to improve access to clean and safe drinking water include:
- Ensuring latrines and toilets flush in safe enclosures or into a sewer.
· Use of rainwater harvesting systems to collect and store rainwater that can be used for drinking.
· Encourage the building of wells that provide groundwater for drinking
· Use of water treatments such as a UV sanitizer meant to purify and disinfect water or filters and flocculants.
· The use of low-cost water treatment solutions such as chlorine tablets that improve water quality.
- Proper Hand Washing
Proper hand washing prevents transmission of diseases such as chlorella, typhoid, diarrhea, and even the novel coronavirus. According to the CDC, good hand washing habits can lower the occurrence of diarrhea by about 50%.
Hand washing should be done with soap and clean water. Other proper handwashing guidelines you should follow include:
- Wet your hands with clean running water and apply soap
- Lather your hands well with soap, including the back of your hands, under your nails, and between the fingers
- Scrub your hands for not less than 20 seconds
- Rinse your hands thoroughly with clean running water
- Air-dry or use a clean, dry towel to dry your hands
- End Open Defecation
Open defecation refers to going to the toilet outside. This practice often pollutes food and water supplies and also contributes to the spread of diseases.
Building toilets is one way to reduce open defecation, but this should be combined with raising awareness on the importance of toilet use. This is because having a toilet may not necessarily mean that people will use it. The belief that it’s okay to defecate in the open should be dealt with first through community-based promotion and national enforcement.
In developing countries, especially in rural areas, people are encouraged to build pit latrines while in densely populated low-income areas, public sanitation blocks are common.
Poor sanitation negatively impacts our health and our social and economic wellbeing. Access to clean water, proper handwashing, and putting an end to open defection are some of the essential public health interventions that can help prevent the spread of infections and improve sanitation.