Parliamentary Secretary Law and Parliamentary Affairs Balochistan Dr Rubaba Buledi on Wednesday said that 53,000 children under the age of five die annually of diarrhoea in Pakistan due to lack of proper sanitation facilities.
She added that over 1.7 billion people globally were deprived of basic sanitation services such as private toilets.
“Of these, 494 million still defecate in the open, for example in street gutters, behind bushes or into open bodies of water,” she revealed while addressing an awareness session titled “Toilets making the grade’” under sanitation for millions (S4M) jointly organized by GIZ and BRSP here at a local hotel on Wednesday.
The session was organized to award winners of schools and seminary students with shields for the best sanitation facilities.
As many as 100 schools and 25 seminaries were given the task to participate in the sanitation competition.
Dr Rubaba Buledi said that Pakistan has made significant progress in improving access to sanitation. However, according to a UNICEF report, 25 million people still practice open defecation.
Lack of access to proper sanitation facilities negatively impacts the health and wellbeing of children.
“Over 53,000 Pakistani children under the age of five die annually from diarrhoea due to poor water and sanitation situation,” she said.
She kept on saying that children suffering from repeated episodes of diarrhoea are likely to fall behind in school or drop out altogether.
Furthermore, it can also cause stunting that currently affects almost 44 per cent of children in Pakistan.
Lauding the efforts of GIZ and BRSP, she said that improvement in sanitation and hygiene was part of Sustainable Development Goals; the government is making endeavours to achieve these goals in collaboration with the organizations working on the issue.
“There is dire need to expand it to the interior parts of the province by engaging the local community to succeed more effectively,” she said.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 30th, 2022.
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