EDITORIAL - A basic health need

The problem has been around for years, with various sectors calling for action to ease the situation. Yet the lack of safe water and sanitation facilities persists, at levels so worrisome that the Senate is set to conduct an inquiry in aid of legislation. One senator described the situation as “appalling.”

A law would help, but much would depend on its enforcement. A code of sanitation has been in place for over four decades, and yet the Department of Health reports that only 70 percent of Philippine households have proper toilet facilities. This means about 26 million Filipinos are still using open-pit latrines and even buckets for defecating. Worse, open defecation remains common especially in underdeveloped areas.

Studies conducted by the World Health Organization and the Joint Monitoring Program for Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene of the United Nations Children’s Fund also showed that 30 percent of Philippine health centers lack access to sanitation facilities.

How can proper hygiene be observed in a health center, school or household that lacks improved toilets and running water? Health professionals have been stressing the importance of the simple act of hand washing to ward off germs. Obviously, this basic hygienic act is not possible in places with no regular supply of clean water.

Little wonder then that cholera, which is supposed to have been eradicated decades ago, has reemerged in the country. Contaminated water also causes other diseases, with infants and children below five years old among the most vulnerable to infection. This problem has been compounded by a vaccine scare that has caused a sharp drop in immunization coverage for about a year now.

This is a problem that bedevils mainly low-income households and communities. With the Senate planning to confront the problem, new measures can be put in place to narrow this gap in public hygiene and sanitation. Any resulting legislation must be matched by proper implementation of the measures.