October to be observed as sanitation month

The percentage of people defecating in open spaces in the country has come down to one from 42 in 2003, said speakers at a press conference in the Department of Public Health Engineering (DPHE) auditorium in the capital yesterday.

The Local Government Division organised the press conference to announce different programmes to be held this month as October will be observed as sanitation month in the country.

This year the theme of the sanitation month is "Shokoler Jonno Sanitation, Nishchith Hok Unnoto Jibon."

"Sixty one percent of the country's population have been incorporated into improved sanitation system. Besides, 28 percent of the population use joint latrine, while 10 percent use undeveloped latrine, which needs to be improved," said Akram Al-Hossain, additional secretary to the Local Government Division.      

According to the report of a joint monitoring programme of Unicef and World Health Organization, in urban areas of the country, the percentage of people under the improved sanitation system rose only to 58 from 47 in 1990, said Akram.

"So it is important to improve the sanitation system in urban and slum areas," he added.

The additional secretary said a national-level committee has been working to prepare a draft of a framework to prevent people from dumping faecal sludge in open spaces and water bodies.

He said 98 percent latrine of the country depends on pits and septic tanks, which are then emptied in open spaces or water bodies, pouting the environment. 

To celebrate the sanitation month, an inauguration ceremony will be held in Osmani Smriti Auditorium at 10:00am today. Awareness programmes will also be held in different city corporations, districts, upazilas and unions across the country.