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[av_heading heading=’7 towns cited for ‘zero open defecation’’ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=’30’ subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’18’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=” av-medium-font-size-title=” av-small-font-size-title=” av-mini-font-size-title=” av-medium-font-size=” av-small-font-size=” av-mini-font-size=” admin_preview_bg=”]
BY IME SORNITO
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Tuesday, March 20, 2018
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ILOILO – Seven municipalities in this province were recognized by the provincial government as “zero open defecation” zones or areas whose residents all use sanitary toilets.
These towns are Bingawan, Mina, Oton, New Lucena, San Rafael, Banate, and Igbaras.
The Provincial Health Office (PHO) formed a team to evaluate the municipalities in its bid to eradicate the unsanitary practice of open defecation.
According to Dr. Patricia Grace Trabado, PHO chief, the team inspected households down to the barangays.
This March 26, the municipality of Miag-ao would be declared a zero open defecation zone, too.
PHO kicked off its zero open defecation campaign in 2015 yet.
The evaluation team is made up of the following:
* municipal health officer
* Sangguniang Bayan member who chairs the Committee on Health and Sanitation
* municipal nurses
* representative from PHO
* representative from the Department of Health
The PHO recognized the difficulty of some villages, especially the poor ones, to ensure that all their residents have sanitary toilets.
“We are really pushing for zero open defecation but the first level of the campaign is (toilet) sharing,” said Trabado.
Those with sanitary toilets are encouraged to share these with neighbors that do not yet have one.
“For those that have sanitary toilets, sharing with those that do not have the facility is better than for the latter to just defecate anywhere and contaminate their surroundings,” said Trabado.
Neighborhoods can bet stricken with diseases such as typhoid, hepatitis, diarrhea, and amoebiasis, she warned.
Trabado, however, stressed the importance of having sanitary toilets in each household.
Data from PHO showed that of the 435,230 households in the province, 370,904 or 85.22 percent have sanitary toilets.
To make sure that all households have sanitary toilets, the PHO encourages municipal councils to pass ordinances requiring such./PN
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