OUTHOUSES: Good for official inspection, in some cases, but used for little else

World Toilet Day 20 November, 2009 - If Bhutanese practised good sanitation and hygiene habits, the number of patients coming to Thimphu referral hospital would decrease by more than 50 percent, said the public health director, Dr Ugen Dophu.

“That’s because most of the 2,000 patients, who visit JDWNRH everyday, are related to water and sanitation illnesses,” said the director.

That improper disposal of human waste can lead to water and air-borne diseases and using toilets can prevent these diseases was once again stressed by health officials yesterday, as Bhutan, for the first time observed the World Toilet Day in Paro. The theme for this year is, “The health of your child begins in the toilet.”

Although the coverage of deep pit toilets across the country is 90 percent and despite continued advocacy on sanitation, Dr Ugen Dophu said that there has been no change in the number of communicable diseases.

“The diseases haven’t increased nor have they come down,” he said. “We found that people built toilets just to show officials and they weren’t being used at all.”

That’s why the number of communicable diseases hasn’t changed, said the director. “Before it was out of ignorance that people didn’t use toilets. But we realised that we also had to be culturally sensitive while implementing programs, because we found that in some places toilets were not user-friendly.”

In Laya, for example, the deep pit toilet was built about 100 metres away from the house. “If someone has diarrhoea in the middle of the night, who’ll walk all the way to the toilet?” said the director. “They’d instead go behind the house.”

Thinking that the deep pit toilets were not acceptable to everyone, the ministry also started constructing different models of toilets in Shaba, Paro, for people to choose from. Similar toilets are under construction in other regions.

Dengue is another disease, which is likely to increase if sanitation practices remain the same, said the director. “In Phuentsholing, there are broken bottles, old tires and plastics thrown between the buildings. These store rainwater and that’s where the dengue mosquito breeds,” said the director.

With the rise in lifestyle diseases, health officials said that Bhutan is experiencing a double burden of diseases. “So now it’s high time Bhutan controls many of the communicable diseases,” said Dr Ugen Dophu. “Our message is that if people use toilets, it can prevent several diseases and keep our population healthy.”

But he said that one of the most important steps towards practising good sanitation is to first change people’s attitude.

Meanwhile, observers said that it’s the lack of public toilets in towns and improper maintenance that make people use the drains and bushes. Most toilets are either locked or not usable because they are filled with stones and sticks.

World Toilet Day was started on November 19, 2001 by the world toilet organisation and is observed annually for sanitation and to raise awareness for the 2.5 billion people (nearly half the world’s population) who don’t have access to toilets and proper sanitation.