Open defecation is the practice
of people defecating outside and not into a designated toilet.
In most rural communities in
Nigeria, open defecation is predominant.
About one billion people, or 15
percent of the global population, practice open defecation. India has the
highest number of people practicing open defecation, around 490 million people,
or nearly a third of the population. Most of it occurs in rural areas, where
the prevalence is estimated at 52 percent of the population, as opposed to
urban areas, where prevalence is estimated at 7.5 percent. The other countries with the highest number
of people openly defecating are Indonesia (54 million), followed by Pakistan
(41 million), Nigeria (39 million), Ethiopia (34 million), and Sudan (17
million).
There can be many reasons why a
person openly defecates, and these may include:
• No
toilet available
• A
toilet is available but is of low quality
Open defecation causes public
health problems in areas where people defecate in fields, urban parks, rivers,
and open trenches in close proximity to the living space of others.
Eliminating open defecation is
the main aim of improving access to sanitation worldwide and is a proposed
indicator for sustainable development goals. Even if toilets are available,
people still need to be convinced to refrain from open defecation and use
toilets. Therefore, the need for behavioral change is critical in addition to
the provision of toilets. A preference for open defecation may be due to
traditional cultural practices or lack of access to toilets, or both.
Extreme poverty and lack of
sanitation are statistically linked. Eliminating open defecation is said to be
an important part of development efforts. High levels of open defecation in a
country are usually correlated with a high child mortality, as well as high
levels of under-nutrition, high levels of poverty, and large disparities between
rich and poor.
HEALTH IMPACTS
Open defecation and lack of
sanitation and hygiene in general is an important factor in causing various
diseases, most notably diarrhea and intestinal worm infections but also
typhoid, cholera, hepatitis, polio, trachoma, and others. In 2011, infectious diarrhea
resulted in about 0.7 million deaths in children under five years old and 250
million lost school days. It can also lead to malnutrition and stunted growth
in children.
Certain diseases are grouped
together under the name of waterborne diseases, which are diseases transmitted
via fecal pathogens in water. Open defecation can lead to water pollution when
rain flushes feces that are dispersed in the environment into surface water or
unprotected wells.
Open defecation was found by the
WHO in 2014 to be a leading cause of diarrheal death. An average of 2,000
children under the age of five die every day from diarrhea.
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