The Ministry of Local Government and Housing Community Development Officer, Paul Mbosha said over 80% of diseases in Zambia emanate from lack of access to improved sanitation.
According to the 2012 World Health Organisation (WHO) monitoring report, over six million people in Zambia live without access to toilets and improved sanitation.Out of these six million people, 2.5 million practice open defecation.
This came to light during a Community Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) workshop in Kapiri Mposhi at which 28 community pioneers drawn from across the district were trained to spearhead sanitation activities aimed at discouraging open defecation in their respective communities.
CLTS is a UNICEF funded approach which is aimed at encouraging and empowering local communities to stop open defecation (OD) and start building and using latrines.
[pullquote]Millions of people are still using bushes to defecate because they do not have toilets[/pullquote]
Mr. Mbosha said lack of access to improved sanitation contributes to the high prevalence of diarrhoeal diseases adding that there was need for local solutions and innovations aimed at enhancing sanitation and ending open defecation.
“Open defecation is not a reflection of poverty but a traditional practice which has continued to exceedingly contribute to the high cases of disease outbreaks such as cholera in our communities. We need effective public education so that people understand the hazards of open defecation,” Mr. Mbosha said.
He said Zambia risks not achieving the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) No.7 which aims at reducing by half the number of people who don’t have access to basic sanitation if open defecation was not stopped.
“Millions of people are still using bushes to defecate because they do not have toilets. We need to sensitise people to build basic and affordable toilet structures if we are to achieve MDG number seven and reduce diarrheal diseases,” he stressed.
CLTS triggers the community’s desire for change and propels them into action to develop local solutions to improve sanitation in their localities.
And Kapiri Mposhi District Council Secretary Hamwende Mpande challenged the trained community CLTS pioneers to implement their acquired skills to address various sanitation challenges in their communities.
Mr. Mpande has since urged community leaders to persuade residents in their communities to construct and use toilets.
He also urged headmen to monitor sanitation change movements in their villages.
Imwe how do you collect this data kanshi ? Pantu i have never seen anyone asking me or anyone ati bushe unyela mumpanga nangu iyo ? Umwana alanda pakunya temwana iyo.
hahahahahahahahaha iiiihihihihihihihihihihi ooooohohohohohohohohohohoho awe kwena wa ndepula iwe!
naine i have never seen anyone going round the townships asking: bushe munyela kwi?
a) mu chimbuusu
b) mu mpanga
c) mu chikopo cha shakeshake
d) mu plastiki bagi
hehehehe
nsm – na seka maningi. a.k.a. lol mu chizungu.
Bushe mwe bantu, tapali unga nyela pali coach wama draws Renard limbi nga umfwa amafi uku nunka kuti abuka mutulo?
Any volunteers out there to this noble cause instead of unkunyela mu mpanga?
Motaim taumfwa kekekekeke
You made my day. Lol! That was my question too. How do you follow people ku shatini? Maybe they used google location capabilities?
This is no laughing matter at all. It is one of the most useful tools in measuring the level of civilisation of a people. I have always stated that we were placing our priorities up-side-down by wanting to have underground trains before addressing our basic needs. Water and sanitation are key to human development, and until we deliver piped clean water and decent sanitation facilities to our villages, the idea of throwing billions of kwacha into underground trains remains a fallacy!
hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha YABA!
I cannot even comment my thoughts now.
Iwe Mo Taim I had a hard day but you have just lightened it up!
it is done through census
iwe james,
what census?
Census???? How was the question framed to you:
Bushe walinyelapo mu mpanga or wachenyele mpanga lelo?
NOSTRADAMUS awe iwe na Motaim mwanisekesa mwe hahahahaha.
Ati census iya kunya
they were counting how many utumilundu mumpanga. how can you publish that kind of nonsense in public then after publishing hope you yourself gona build at least ten toilets in each province,chi kala chobe with your findings.
this will definetely annoy my tribal cousins in the east.
how do you expect them to feed their pigs if you ban OD. LOL!
Do not compare the Eastern province to the Northen or Luapula. We feed the whole nation with our agriculture. The East and southern province combined are Zambia’s bread basket. How much soil erosion have you caused with chitemene lately.
NGA NIMWE MWE BA BEEMBA MUNYELA PA MUMANA HEHEHE LOL NA PK CHISHALA ALIMBILE LOL
I am also surprised that there has been such a census. Villagers and those not using toilets would feel insulted being asked such a question and so I am very sure that this census has never taken place.
Very interesting news. My first time to hear of Open Defecation (OD). He he heee!!!!!
during Census, there is a part where the household is asked whether a toilet is there n what what type. i thot mayb it can also help
What a heading Very indecent ba LT You cant use that, its very crude and incorrect Blood sh***t
Lol: guys evidence is there; especially in cities. If you live in good neighbourhoods “the so called Ku”; then you have access to proper sanitation. To the contrary, living in “Kwa” result in challenges as far as sanitation is concerned. Data does not lie bane. If you bring people together without engineering their water reticulation and grey water treatment plants, you get a “Zambian situation”. Worse, if you try and pray about it without acting on it, you get further into problems. Again this is the Zambian way; expecting god will resolve the man made problems. No office; but our inaction towards infrastructure has been and will continue to be our national embarrassment.
Lusaka is a huge pit latrine because we use septic tanks and boreholes even in up market residential areas.
These are the issues we should be discussing and finding solutions to. We should be asking ourselves why we have water blues when we live next to a river and libyans have water but they live in a desert. But unfortunately we trivialise it by passing comments like the ones above. Worse still, others would rather comment about chipimo’s arrest.
Kwena Mo taim na bakashana naba lumendo ala mwandepula kusenko and mwandisha mwe!!
But zoona ba LT, mwatiletelapo ilyashi lya kunya sure? Ha ha ha ha!
But zoona ba LT, mwatiletelapo ilyashi lya kunya sure? Ha ha ha ha!
Anyway, this called balanced reporting since mwalilandapo kale ifya bunga…
Ati OD, lol…..Mo taim they asked you strategically. Those statistics are correct!About 60 percent of pipo here have done OD 10 years ago for instance
Very good article! These are very important Key Performance Areas (KPAs) against which we should measure any govt that takes office:
1. Number of people with access to decent sanitation facilities [ Number when you took office and Number at end of your term of office]
2.Number of people have access to clean piped domestic water [ Number when you took office and Number at end of your term of office]
3. Number of people with access to decent housing [ Number when you took office and Number at end of your term of office]
4. Number of people with access to medical facilities within a 5km radius[ Number when you took office and Number at end of your term of office]
5. Children with access to schooling facilities within 5km [ Number when you took office and Number at end of your term of…