World Toilet Day: RB urges end to open defecation

As Nigeria joined the rest of the world to celebrate this year’s World Toilet Day, with the theme, ‘When Nature Calls,’ Nigerians have been urged to practise proper and safe defecation, as well as imbibe simple hand washing with soap and water with a view to breaking the chain of infections due to open defecation.

The West Africa General Manager of Reckitt Benckiser (RB), makers of Harpic, Dayanand Sriram, while describing open defecation as a drawback to global public health safety and economic growth, said at an event organised in collaboration with the Lagos State Ministry of Environment to mark the day, charged Nigerians to join the world not only in words, but also in deed to end the menace.

Open defecation is the practice of going into fields, bushes, forests, open bodies of water or other open spaces, rather than using a toilet, to defecate.

According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), about 46 million Nigerians defecate in the open, with 56 million people estimated to join in the trend in the next 10 years.

Sriram said having realised the dangers associated with open defecation, the firm, whose vision is to ensure healthier homes and happier lives, has been at the forefront of curbing open defecation in Nigeria; hence revamping of numerous public toilets across the country.