BSS, Teknaf (Cox’Bazar) :
As an effort to make them free from various water and airborne diseases, more than 50,000 people were brought under sanitation and hygiene coverage in Teknaf and Ukhia Upazila in the district till May last.
Various software and hardware activities were implemented in the costal and offshore island in order to make the community people motivated and aware about the aspects of sanitation and hygiene under an emergency project.
NGO Forum for Public Health implemented the project titled “GOB UNICEF: Improved Water Sanitation and Hygiene in host communities of Ukhia and Teknaf” with financial support of UNICEF.
“We have arranged 225 hygiene sessions for the community people on how they will know and maintain hygiene practices properly and disseminate their ideas among neighbours,” said Sabit Jahan, Project officer of NGO Forum for Public Health.
Some 180 new latrines were commissioned and 90 others were repaired in addition to construction of 22 bathing cubical. Besides, 540 hand wash devises and 898 hygiene kits were distributed among the beneficiaries under the project.
The activities were carried out in terms of promotion of community latrines and supply water connection for safe water use promotion with hygiene education for awareness raising. Zafar Alam, Chairman of Teknaf Upazila, told BSS that the promotional activities will contribute a lot towards elevating living and livelihood condition of the beneficiaries.
He said the promotion of better hygiene alone or in combination with better water supply and sanitation can have a major impact on reducing disease prevalence and public and private health costs.
He added that capacity building for hygiene promotion shall not be a discrete function. It must be an integral part of the strategy for improving sector capacity to address problems related to water supply, sanitation and hygiene promotion. Capacity building initiatives must involve relevant target-groups as well.
Zafar Alam underscored the need for collective efforts for hundred per cent expansion of hygiene for substantial and sustainable prevention of water-borne diseases which cause many premature deaths in the area every year. There are many scopes of implementing various other need-based schemes here to address the problems. He also says supply of safe drinking water and cent per cent sanitation has become crucial to meet fundamental rights like education and health.
Anupom Dey, Executive Engineer of Department of Public Health Engineering, Cox’Bazar, viewed hygiene awareness and knowledge of the links between poor hygiene and disease are lowest among the typically poorly-educated dwellers.
Poor sanitation contributes to high levels of acute respiratory infections and diarrhea, which kill children every year.
Besides, poor sanitation practices in the hard-to-reach areas are exacerbated by seasonal flooding and other tidal surges which ruin many water sources and latrines and hamper efforts to build new ones.
As an effort to make them free from various water and airborne diseases, more than 50,000 people were brought under sanitation and hygiene coverage in Teknaf and Ukhia Upazila in the district till May last.
Various software and hardware activities were implemented in the costal and offshore island in order to make the community people motivated and aware about the aspects of sanitation and hygiene under an emergency project.
NGO Forum for Public Health implemented the project titled “GOB UNICEF: Improved Water Sanitation and Hygiene in host communities of Ukhia and Teknaf” with financial support of UNICEF.
“We have arranged 225 hygiene sessions for the community people on how they will know and maintain hygiene practices properly and disseminate their ideas among neighbours,” said Sabit Jahan, Project officer of NGO Forum for Public Health.
Some 180 new latrines were commissioned and 90 others were repaired in addition to construction of 22 bathing cubical. Besides, 540 hand wash devises and 898 hygiene kits were distributed among the beneficiaries under the project.
The activities were carried out in terms of promotion of community latrines and supply water connection for safe water use promotion with hygiene education for awareness raising. Zafar Alam, Chairman of Teknaf Upazila, told BSS that the promotional activities will contribute a lot towards elevating living and livelihood condition of the beneficiaries.
He said the promotion of better hygiene alone or in combination with better water supply and sanitation can have a major impact on reducing disease prevalence and public and private health costs.
He added that capacity building for hygiene promotion shall not be a discrete function. It must be an integral part of the strategy for improving sector capacity to address problems related to water supply, sanitation and hygiene promotion. Capacity building initiatives must involve relevant target-groups as well.
Zafar Alam underscored the need for collective efforts for hundred per cent expansion of hygiene for substantial and sustainable prevention of water-borne diseases which cause many premature deaths in the area every year. There are many scopes of implementing various other need-based schemes here to address the problems. He also says supply of safe drinking water and cent per cent sanitation has become crucial to meet fundamental rights like education and health.
Anupom Dey, Executive Engineer of Department of Public Health Engineering, Cox’Bazar, viewed hygiene awareness and knowledge of the links between poor hygiene and disease are lowest among the typically poorly-educated dwellers.
Poor sanitation contributes to high levels of acute respiratory infections and diarrhea, which kill children every year.
Besides, poor sanitation practices in the hard-to-reach areas are exacerbated by seasonal flooding and other tidal surges which ruin many water sources and latrines and hamper efforts to build new ones.
