(task) Zambia Hits Major Milestone In Push To Stop Open Defecation

GRS All Africa RS

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sanitation

> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/26/zambia-toilet-sanitation_n_7422360.html <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/26/zambia-toilet-sanitation_n_7422360.html>
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> Zambia Hits Major Milestone In Push To Stop Open Defecation
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> Zambia just took one big step forward toward becoming an "open-defecation-free <http://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2015/05/21/408240078/a-toilet-in-every-home-zambians-celebrate-sanitation-milestone>" country.
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> According to the Southern African nation's government, no one in the country's Chienge district is relieving themselves in the open, NPR reported <http://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2015/05/21/408240078/a-toilet-in-every-home-zambians-celebrate-sanitation-milestone>. It's the first district in Zambia to do achieve the status.
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> The milestone, set last month, marks progress in Zambia's fight to ensure all of its citizens have access to improved sanitation within the next five years.
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> Leonard Mukosha, national coordinator of the Total Sanitation program there, told NPR of the difference private toilets have made to Zambians.
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> "Before, he would go into the bush [to use the bathroom] with fear because he would think of snakes," he explained of a 12-year-old boy in Chienge <http://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2015/05/21/408240078/a-toilet-in-every-home-zambians-celebrate-sanitation-milestone>. "And during the rainy season, sometimes you go and suddenly it starts raining. Now, [at least], he's able to go to the toilet [indoors] so there are no surprises there."
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> Aside from wildlife and unexpected downpours, open defecation makes for a challenging public health issue in many areas of the developing world.
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> About 2.5 billion people <http://www.mytoilet.org/index.html#about> globally don't have access to improved sanitation -- a reality that disproportionately affects women and girls, as they face the risk of sexual violence <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/11/19/my-toilet-world-toilet-day_n_6186164.html> while relieving themselves in the open.
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> In order to avoid the risk of violence, many women choose not to relieve themselves at nighttime and wait until morning, which can lead to urinary tract infections <http://upprbd.org/newsdetail.aspx?ID=22>.
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> In regions where open defecation is the only option, feces in waterways poses another threat to communities. Unsafe drinking water can result in potentially life-threatening conditions like cholera, hepatitis and polio <http://opendefecation.org/#slide3>, according to the United Nations.
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> Diseases linked to open defecation are responsible for a child's death every 2.5 minutes <http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/endopendefecation.shtml>, as U.N. Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson noted last year.
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> "Those are silent deaths <http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/endopendefecation.shtml>," she said. "Not reported on in the media, not the subject of public debate. Let's not remain silent any longer."
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> A lack of sanitation can also significantly hinder economic progress. A 2010 report found that India lost roughly $53.8 billion in 2006 <http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2010/12/20/inadequate-sanitation-costs-india-the-equivalent-of-64-per-cent-of-gdp> in costs related to poor sanitation -- death and disease, losses in education and reduced tourism, for example.
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> But for now, those who have toilets in Chienge are celebrating.
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> Pit latrines -- a concealed hole in the ground that collects waste and is surrounded by shelter -- have become more available to those in the district, and health workers have taught residents about the importance of using them routinely, NPRreported <http://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2015/05/21/408240078/a-toilet-in-every-home-zambians-celebrate-sanitation-milestone>.
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> "You can see that people have a lot of pride in their toilets," Philippa Crooks, a UNICEF volunteer, told the outlet. "They just keep them very, very clean <http://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2015/05/21/408240078/a-toilet-in-every-home-zambians-celebrate-sanitation-milestone>."
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