Tuesday, February 26, 2008 2008 is International Year of Sanitation
CITY OF SAN FERNANDO -- The Department of Health (DOH) launched the observance of the International Year of Sanitation as declared by the United Nations General Assembly that recognized the importance of sanitation to all of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
The launching is a bid to improve health situations in the country, facilitate sanitation availability among the rural areas, and other health related concerns.
The country's MDG for the year 2015 is to ensure that 86.8 percent of the population will have access to safe water and 73.8 percent of the population will have access to a sanitary toilet facility.
"Even halfway through 2015, we can already say that we have made considerable progress in as far as poverty reduction, nutrition, gender equality, reducing child mortality, combating human immunodeficiency virus-Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (HIV/Aids), malaria, and other diseases," said Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, adding that access to safe water supply and to toilets have increased.
The DOH 2006 Field Health Service Information System revealed that safe water supply in the country reached 83 percent while sanitation coverage is at 75.4 percent.
"The state of our water and sanitation coverage is reflected by the leading causes of morbidity and mortality, with diarrhea still ranking as the number one or two cause of morbidity for the past 20 years and one of the top five causes of child mortality," Duque added.
Thus, the declaration of this year as "International Year of Sanitation" is seen as government's recognition of the critical importance of sanitation in the country's development goals.
As part of this year's observance, there will be a National Search for the Barangay with the Best Sanitation Practices where local government units will showcase their best examples of water supply, provision of sanitary toilet facilities and other initiatives related to environmental sanitation.
"We would like to challenge our partners, such as the local government units and other stakeholders, to work together to come up and implement sustainable water and sanitation programs to make further impact on economic growth and poverty reduction," Duque concluded. (IOF)
