Malawians have been urged to start constructing and using toilets properly with the aim of reducing the spread of sanitary diseases.
Elizabeth Kwelepeta, chairlady for Water for People in Chikhwawa, made the remarks on Saturday at Dambe primary school in the area of Traditional Authority Maseya in Chikhwawa district.
She was speaking to hundreds of people gathered at the school during the commemoration of World Toilet Day which is observed annually and this year was being commemorated under the theme “Toilets and Jobs”.
Kwelepeta said people in the country are supposed to know the importance of having a toilets at household as well as institutional levels since they help reduce the spread of diseases such as cholera and others.
She further said her organisation is working tirelessly to reduce number of people defecating in the bush by the year 2020 and to achieve this, they are working with government and other non-governmental organizations.
“When we are talking of toilets and sanitation in Malawi it’s a big issue because it affects each and every one of us because once a person has no toilet they are likely to openly defecate and in so doing there is promotion of the spread of some diseases,” said Kwelepeta.
Speaking in an interview, Traditional Authority (T/A) Maseya said it is high time people in the country especially in Chikhwawa and Nsanje stopped using the bush as their toilets.
T/A Maseya then bemoaned some beliefs amongst some people in the district who claim that they feel like they are defecating in their own houses when using the toilets.
Maseya however claimed that they are working tirelessly to make sure that every family in the area has a toilet.
World Toilet Day was instituted by the United Nations to remember and focus on the importance of toilets in the world.
As a nation we are indeed very poor and still in the dark. You mean until now money should be spent on telling people to build or use toilets? Sob…sob…sob
Talk main issues here and not waste time on building toilets. These pipo are not eating enough hence why have toilets? There is nothing to shit in there. Just teach them on how to cashgate.
Kkkkk…Malawi at 52…talking about how to use toilets….are u mad..?which toilet. ..Timanya ntchire ife.
Sad that people have difficulty building their own toilet and even sadder that they need someone to tell them that they should to assist in preventing disease.
People must be instructed to use soap after using the toilet to wash their hands this will reduce the spread of disease,
open defecation manure is removed by wild and unleased dogs in areas of shortage of toilets,
Disease is spread by touching others and objects with your dirty hands,