KALIBO, Aklan – The Philippine Statistics Authority in this province conducted a survey on sanitation and hygiene in households.
According to Engr. Antonet Catubuan, Aklan’s chief statistical specialist, a total of 391 households in 22 barangays in this province were chosen as samples of the study
“This activity was (done) to measure the key aspect of personal hygiene that has implications on the health of all household members,” said Catubuan.
The Annual Poverty Indicator Survey conducted in 2019 showed that 96 percent of families in Western Visayas have handwashing facilities with soap and water, higher compared to the figure reported in 2017 which was at 72 percent.
On the other hand, the number of Western Visayan families who have handwashing facilities without soap and water were pegged at 2.7 percent while those who do not have handwashing stations contracted to 1.3 percent from 20.5 percent reported in 2017.
In terms of toilet facility, about 83.3 percent of households in this region have basic service level of sanitation. This means they use improved stations that are not shared with other households.
Improved sanitation facilities are those designed to hygienically separate excreta from human contact. These include wet sanitation technologies (flush and pour flush toilets connecting to sewers, septic tanks or pit latrines) and dry sanitation technologies (ventilated improved pit latrines, pit latrines with slabs, or composting toilets).
Meanwhile, the proportion of families in this region who use improved facilities shared between two or more households was recorded at 5.7 percent.
On the contrary, the percentage of households without toilet facility or practice open defecation dropped to 8.8 percent in 2019 from 13.4 percent reported in 2017. (With a report from PSA-Aklan/PN)
