Pathfinder
Editor, Senior Moderator
Poor sanitation causes death to 30,000 children annually -
MASEMBE TAMBWE and PIUS RUGONZIBWA
11th October 2009 @ 10:31
OVER 30,000 children aged below five die annually of diseases related to poor access to water and sanitation, recent studies by various organisations have revealed.
The Tanzania Water and Sanitation Network (TAWASA.NET) said in a report presented at the just ended 2009 joint water sector review meeting held in Dar es Salaam.
The TAWASA.NET Chairperson, Ms Nyanzobe Malimi, said other estimates show that 60 to 80 per cent of diseases requiring hospital attendance in the country were caused by water and sanitation related diseases.
She warned that the trend was likely to worsen if implementation of the proposed National Sanitation and Hygiene Policy would remain slow.
According to situation analysis draft document of women, children and the Water Sanitation and Hygiene Sector (WASH) in Tanzania, less than 10 per cent of Tanzanians wash hands after cleaning babies.
It further shows that only 40 per cent wash hands after using toilets and less than 20 per cent wash hands before preparing meals.
The report is an extended analysis for the Joint Water Sector Review 2009, Joint Annual Health Sector Review 2009, Joint Education Sector Review 2009 and MKUKUTA Review.
"It is estimated that less than 10 per cent of school children have access to functional hand-washing facilities after using latrines," says the report, which indicates that in some schools between 200 and 500 pupils share a single latrine.
An official with the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Mr Elias Chinamo, who is one of the authors of the report, confirms that the research reveals that hand-washing with soap reduces diarrhoeal cases by 43 per cent.
Mr Chinamo said the ministry was aware of the challenges facing the nation with regard to hygiene, saying they had embarked on extensive advocacy to curb the problem.
The report, however, admits that little is known about household hygiene practices in Tanzania and investments in hygiene promotion -- focusing on hand washing at critical times -- have shown to be highly cost effective interventions.
The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Ms Blandina Nyoni, affirmed that there were challenges in hygiene and said the National Hygiene policy was almost ready.
She said Tanzania was currently implementing a five-year 1trillion/- water project believed to be the largest in Sub-Saharan Africa .
http://www.dailynews.co.tz/home/?n=4409
MASEMBE TAMBWE and PIUS RUGONZIBWA
11th October 2009 @ 10:31
OVER 30,000 children aged below five die annually of diseases related to poor access to water and sanitation, recent studies by various organisations have revealed.
The Tanzania Water and Sanitation Network (TAWASA.NET) said in a report presented at the just ended 2009 joint water sector review meeting held in Dar es Salaam.
The TAWASA.NET Chairperson, Ms Nyanzobe Malimi, said other estimates show that 60 to 80 per cent of diseases requiring hospital attendance in the country were caused by water and sanitation related diseases.
She warned that the trend was likely to worsen if implementation of the proposed National Sanitation and Hygiene Policy would remain slow.
According to situation analysis draft document of women, children and the Water Sanitation and Hygiene Sector (WASH) in Tanzania, less than 10 per cent of Tanzanians wash hands after cleaning babies.
It further shows that only 40 per cent wash hands after using toilets and less than 20 per cent wash hands before preparing meals.
The report is an extended analysis for the Joint Water Sector Review 2009, Joint Annual Health Sector Review 2009, Joint Education Sector Review 2009 and MKUKUTA Review.
"It is estimated that less than 10 per cent of school children have access to functional hand-washing facilities after using latrines," says the report, which indicates that in some schools between 200 and 500 pupils share a single latrine.
An official with the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Mr Elias Chinamo, who is one of the authors of the report, confirms that the research reveals that hand-washing with soap reduces diarrhoeal cases by 43 per cent.
Mr Chinamo said the ministry was aware of the challenges facing the nation with regard to hygiene, saying they had embarked on extensive advocacy to curb the problem.
The report, however, admits that little is known about household hygiene practices in Tanzania and investments in hygiene promotion -- focusing on hand washing at critical times -- have shown to be highly cost effective interventions.
The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Ms Blandina Nyoni, affirmed that there were challenges in hygiene and said the National Hygiene policy was almost ready.
She said Tanzania was currently implementing a five-year 1trillion/- water project believed to be the largest in Sub-Saharan Africa .
http://www.dailynews.co.tz/home/?n=4409