We all should strive to make our own small contributions towards awareness of health and sanitation
KARACHI: Your news report “Keep it clean: In Tharparkar, most students can’t answer nature’s call at school”, published in The Express Tribune on October 16, is really an eye-opener. The report reflects the apathy of the local authorities and how negligence on their part has deprived people in some areas of Pakistan of even the most basic sanitation and healthcare facilities. Another recent report by Unicef points out that 48 million Pakistanis defecate in the open, with the problem mostly prevalent in the rural areas.
Unfortunately, Pakistan is falling short of its commitments on the Millennium Development Goals (MDG). As a result of poor sanitation facilities and inaccessibility to clean drinking water, Pakistan also ranks high in cases of diarrhoea, malnutrition and other preventable diseases. These diseases have a direct impact on the infant mortality rate and school attendance. The news item also exposes the level of corruption that even the common man indulges in. The pilferage of soaps and towels distributed among students should be stopped. We all should strive to make our own small contributions towards awareness of health and sanitation as a national duty towards societal progress.
Arshma Hyder & Somia Sheikh
Published in The Express Tribune, October 18th, 2014.
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