World Toilet Day: Experts Canvass to End Open Defecation
As Nigeria joins the global community to mark the 2024 World Toilet Day today, medical experts have urged Nigerians to shun open defecation and practices that could predispose them to the risk of infection.
The experts said open defecation had been linked to a lot of diseases including Hepatitis A infection.
According to them, Hepatitis A can be transmitted through open defecation, stressing that though there are different types and causes of hepatitis, the infectious type is caused mainly by hepatitis viruses such as hepatitis A or B viruses.
The Federal Government says 48 million Nigerians still practice open defecation, and many people still use the bush and water bodies as their regular means for excreta disposal.
The World Toilet Day, observed annually on November 19, highlights the global sanitation crisis and the urgent need to provide safe and secure toilets for all. With 3.5 billion people still lacking access to safely managed sanitation, including 419 million practising open defecation, this year’s theme, Sanitation for Peace, underscores the role of resilient sanitation systems in building a fairer and healthier world.
The health professionals also urged Nigerians using public toilets to ensure that they are clean, warning that Hepatitis B and C infections could be acquired from dirty public toilets.
Hepatitis, the World Health Organisation says is an inflammation of the liver that is caused by a variety of infectious viruses and non-infectious agents leading to a range of health problems, some of which can be fatal.
Speaking with our correspondent, a Public Health Physician and Epidemiologist, Dr Japheth Olugbogi, described hepatitis as a deadly disease that should not be treated lightly.
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The epidemiologist said, “There are different worms that people can pass out and others can pick them up. We have hepatitis A as well.
“Hepatitis A can be transmitted through open defecation. So, there are so many diseases and it is easy for people to pick up these germs, especially when it rains because faecal matter is washed from the canal or gutters into homes, shops, and markets. Utensils, plates, and water sources are contaminated.
“So here are so many health problems associated with open defecation.”
The Medical Officer of Health, Ifelodun Local Council Development Area, gave insight into the dangers of open defecation and why people should shun the act.
“In an environment where people practice open defecation, the germs and worms can contaminate the body of the soft drink or nylon of the sachet water. If you don’t wash them thoroughly, you can pick whatever contaminant is on the body of the soft drink or nylon of sachet water.
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“Those who sell sachet water think that it is safe but it is not. Even bottled soft drinks are not safe in such a contaminated environment. That can be very dangerous”, he said.
Olugbogi urged the government to provide a hepatitis free testing policy in Nigeria, pleading that the disease management should be heavily subsidised to encourage those infected to present themselves for treatment.
Also speaking, a medal researcher, Dr Dan Onwujekwe, advised Nigerians using public toilets to pay attention to hygiene, warning that Hepatitis B and C infections could be acquired the infection from dirty toilets.
He noted that people could acquire the viral infection if there is a direct contact with the blood or open sores of a person who has been infected.
According to the expert, people should disinfect public toilets with bleach before using them to avoid exposing themselves to the risk of infections.
Onwujekwe who is a Retired Chief Research Fellow at the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research, Yaba, Lagos, said people could acquire infections such as hepatitis B and C from public toilets if the seats are contaminated with blood or faecal matter.
According to him, COVID-19 has taught the world a lot of things and the need for people to be health-conscious anywhere they are.
He noted that many people were not aware of the risk involved in using public toilets without disinfecting the seat with bleach or detergent.
The researcher explained, “There are infections that you can acquire from public toilets.
“People should know that when the seat is contaminated with blood or fecal matter, infections like hepatitis B or C that don’t die off immediately can be acquired.
“If a person with a wound or cut sits on it and the wound gets contaminated with that fluid that was dropped there, then the person that uses it afterward could acquire hepatitis B or C from such a toilet seat.
“So, the simple thing is to disinfect the toilet seat before using it. It will render it safe because these things die off when seats are disinfected.
“But a lot of people don’t do that. When they go and acquire other infections, they will come and tell you it is a toilet infection. But it is not.”
According to him, hepatitis B and C don’t die off quickly unlike HIV which dies off quickly when it is exposed to the air.
“Hepatitis is the inflammation of the liver, caused by virus types including A, B, C, D, and E. Hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) are commonly prevalent forms of viral hepatitis.
“The common factors associated with transmission of both HBV and HCV infections are the same including exposure to infective blood, injection drug use, and reuse of syringe, except that HBV infection can also be caused by sexual contact and mother-to-child transmission at the prenatal stage,” he said.
