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Poor Sanitation In Schools Should Be Declared a National Crisis - Founder of Africa Schools Sanitation Foundation

President of Africa Schools Sanitation Foundation (ASSF), Kwame Tutu, has reiterated the need for the government of Ghana to declare the issue of dirty lavatories and urinals in our public schools a national crisis.

He has maintained that proper sanitation facilities (such as toilets and latrines) promote health because they allow people to properly dispose of their waste, preventing pollution of their environment and reducing risk to themselves and their neighbours.

The experienced Journalist and Communication Expert believes that the situation in which some schools have terrible and filthy toilets and urinals, or none at all, endangers the lives of students, teachers, and the community as a whole.

The situation he lamented results in an unhealthy environment contaminated by human waste.

He stated that without proper sanitation facilities, waste from infected individuals can contaminate a community's land and water, increasing the risk of infection for other people.

According to the World Health Organization and UNICEF, nearly one-third of the world's schools continue to lack basic water, sanitation, and hygiene services.

He argued that adequate WASH facilities are especially important for ensuring girls' safe and healthy participation in school.

According to him, this could be attributed to increased female attendance, with available data indicating that 10% of women and girls in at least 15 of the 36 countries surveyed did not have a private place to wash and change at home.

In addition, he stated that in the absence of proper sanitation facilities, people are frequently forced to live in and drink water from an environment contaminated with waste from infected people.