Despite years of knowledge of the advantages, the Ministry of Health (MOH) has stated that they will not provide free pit latrines or toilets for people of the community who still need such sanitary facilities.
Dr. Diana Atwine, the ministry’s permanent secretary, told reporters on Monday as the ministry’s annual sanitation week events got underway that in addition to providing latrines and urging people to clean up their homes, they are also talking with local governments about imposing fines on those who violate community sanitary standards.
The introduction of national cleaning days, where everyone is obliged to participate in the activity, is also one of the proposals they are talking about, according to her.
According to statistics provided by the Ministry of Health, up to 23% of people still use open defecation despite not having access to toilets.
Although open defecation is more common in Karamoja, data from the ministry’s Commissioner for Environmental Health, Dr. Herbert Nabaasa, indicates that it also occurs in a number of other places outside of urban slums in Western Uganda.
He claims that efforts by the government and donors over the years to rid the community of a habit that contributes to a high burden of diseases like cholera and other hygiene-related ailments have been ineffective.
He cites as an example how in certain places, those who built latrines were gifted, but along the line, they discovered the need for a powerful mindset-change campaign to help people understand the value of using the restroom and washing their hands afterward.
He expresses worry that, despite the importance of hand washing during previous epidemics like COVID-19 and the Ebola virus, the practice was only given proper attention for a brief period of time.
Although the Ministry appears to be severe on houses with sanitary facilities, there are instances of medical establishments that still don’t have them.
Nabaasa responded that they were working with constrained funds and requested local governments to include sanitation in their strategies and spending plans.
Less than 10% of government financing is now allocated to sanitation-related projects. The government has declared a change in strategy to focus on disease prevention and cure, despite the fact that the majority of programs in this area are supported by donors.
Specialists claim that simple sanitary or hygiene measures like adequate fecal waste disposal and hand hygiene can eliminate over 70% of the diseases that are killing Ugandans.
