Promoting Health & Sanitation on World Toilet Day

Queen Mothers’ Platform-Ghana, joins the global effort on this day to raise awareness about the challenges and deadly health consequences of poor sanitation in many parts of the world, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa, as well as to encourage policy dialogue and implementation to guarantee increased access to improved sanitation.

 The theme for this year is Valuing Toilets. Toilets and the sanitation systems that support them are underfunded, poorly managed, or abandoned in many parts of Ghana leading to the incidence of open defecation, with terrible consequences for health, the economy and the environment, especially among the poorest and most disadvantaged.

On the other hand, the advantages of investing in a proper sanitation system are immeasurable.

To attain optimal health and sanitation, human waste management must be improved. While Local Authorities in Ghana enforce bylaws that require homeowners to build their own household toilets, many of these homeowners will need some subsidy packages to build these household toilet facilities, and more comprehensive policy and implementation measures would be required in Ghana to address the issue of open defecation.