The United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF, has disclosed that over 50million Nigerians do not have access to toilets hence resort to defecating in the open.
The report also noted that Nigeria ranks among the five countries in the world with the greatest rates of open defecation.
The report was released to mark World Toilet Day.
The report titled, Improving Nutrition Outcomes with Better Water, Sanitation and Hygiene, pointed out the emerging evidence of links between inadequate sanitation and malnutrition among children.
Sanjay Wijesekera, who is the head of UNICEF’s global water, sanitation and hygiene programmes said “Nigeria loses over 150,000 children to diarrhea annually. After pneumonia, it is the biggest killer of Nigeria’s under-fives; 88 per cent of diarrhoea cases in Nigeria are attributed to unsafe water and sanitation. Where rates of toilet use are low, rates of diarrhoea tend to be high.
“Intestinal parasites such as roundworm, whipworm and hookworm are transmitted through contaminated soil in areas where open defecation is practiced. Hookworm is a major cause of anaemia in pregnant women, leading to malnourished, underweight babies.
“We need to bring concrete and innovative solutions to the problem of where people go to the toilet, otherwise we are failing millions of our poorest and most vulnerable children.”
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