Expert calls for erection of sanitation barriers against fecal-borne diseases

LAGOS – A Consultant Public Health Physician, Dr Abdul-Hakeem Abiola, on Monday called for the erection of sanitation barriers against diseases that could originate from faeces.
Abiola, who works at the College of Medicine, University of Lagos, made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.
He said that poor hygiene and improper disposal of human waste were some of the ways to spread communicable diseases such as cholera and diarrhoea.
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“To break the fecal-borne disease cycle before it gets to a new person, you have to erect what is known as sanitation barrier.
“We make sure that our source of water is not contaminated by faeces, by protecting our food so that it is not contaminated.
“By maintaining personal hygiene so that when you go to toilet, you wash your hand before you eat; even if you don’t go to toilet, any time before you eat, you wash your hand.
“Also by controlling house flies, so that they do not contaminate our food. So, all these are known as the sanitation barrier.
“Sanitation barrier consists of segregation of faeces, protection of water supplies, protection of food, personal hygiene, then the control of the flies.
“If you are able to do all that, then, you will be able to protect other individuals that have not been infected with that fecal- borne disease from being infected.“
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Abiola said that appropriate method of disposing faeces and fecal matters should be adopted to prevent the spread of the diseases.
He said, “a method is said to be sanitary if it consists of these characteristics: it must not pollute the surface soil.
“It must not contaminate or pollute the surface water or the ground water; surface water like the streams, the rivers, the ground water like when you dig your borehole or you dig your well.
“Then, the method must not make excreta accessible to flies and other animals that feed on faeces like dogs.
“It should not be unsightly, and it should not be smelly. It should not be a method that will lead to handling.
“The method must be simple and affordable and it should be acceptable in terms of cultural belief of the community.“ (NAN