Open defecation is the human act defecating the open, rather than using a toilet. It has always been a critical issue globally, with devastating effects on the environment.
Among the many wrongs it does, defecating in open fields, waterways and open trenches without any proper disposal plan, is an affront to dignity and risk to children’s nutrition and to general community health.
While some people do this deliberately, some cases of the unhealthy act happen due to lack of access to facilities, ruralism, and lack of sensitization on the risks associated with the practice.
Also, many people classify people who use bad facilities as people who practise open defecation, but according to World Health Organisation (WHO), “those using unimproved sanitation facilities like pit latrines without slab, open pit, or hanging latrines, are not counted as practising open defecation”.
Open defecation has a lot of risks attached to it, and in this article are some of the real reasons why the practice is considered really bad for public health.
Enviromental Pollution
Open defecation generally casues harm to the environment, as it has the potential to contaminate soil, water, and air. The stench ordinarily pollutes the air and spreads gases that are not palatable with the human respiratory system.
Ground Water Contamination.
Open defecation occurs most times near water bodies such as rivers, lakes, and brooks. Faeces contain harmful microbials which can contaminate the water bodies, thereby making it unsafe for drinking, cooking, and its use for other important activities.
Crop Contamination
Many times, people defecate in open fields, in farmlands, and in land which might be used for farming in the future; when the faeces are excreted on the soil, it affects the soil as the pollution sips in, and this leads to crops contamination and also stops the use of that particular soil for other purposes.
Antimicrobial Resistance
Faeces contain antimicrobials such as virus and bacteria. When people defecate in open places, it affects other people, livestock and the land itself. Due to this, affected people might resort to the use of antimicrobials, and if used wrongly or excessively, the antimicrobials become resistant to the drugs that were meant to kill them.
Disease Outbreaks
Open defecation can cause diseases such as waterborne diseases and food borne disease. When the soil is polluted, the crops become contaminated, thereby making the food unhygienic. Similarly, when people defecate closely to water bodies, the water becomes contaminated and when people drink it or use it for other purposes, diseases such as cholera, diarrhea and dysentery are bound to spread.
Lastly, open defecation can lead to death.
It can result to an increase in mortality rate. Death will not just occur because people excrete in the open. Death occurs as an aftermath of the preceding effects mentioned. Death is sequel to the pollution and outbreaks of diseases.
So far, open defecation remains a challenge to public health globally. But it can be subdued as a lot of investment and policies by civil societies and government have been geared towards eradicating the practice.
In conclusion, the best way to control the open defecation menace is for everyone as individuals concerned about the sustainability of the environment, to ensure that the toilet is the only place we defecate.
Food & Wellbeing4 months ago