Kalinga municipalities and the city get free plastic toilet bowl on World Toilet Day

Tabuk City, Kalinga―With its focus on sustainable sanitation and climate change, Kalinga Provincial Health Office in partnership with Department of Health-Cordillera Administrative Region (DOH-CAR) celebrates World Toilet Day through distribution of plastic toilet bowl to participating Zero Open Defecation barangays and Rural Health Units in the province this November 19.

World Toilet Day is an official United Nations international observance day on November 19 to inspire action to tackle the global sanitation crisis.

Based on DOH data, only 11 percent or 4,625 of all barangays nationwide have been certified Zero Open Defecation (ZOD), a status wherein the whole community has abandoned the practice of defecating in fields, bushes and bodies of water, and already use toilets.

Moreover, results of the 2017 Annual Poverty Indicators Survey showed that nearly six percent of Filipinos still do not have toilets and are most likely practicing open defecation, while another 19 percent use unimproved sanitation facilities, which include poorly designed septic tanks.

With this, PHO-Kalinga distributes plastic toilet bowls to ZOD candidates in the province which include Balbalan with 130 ,Pasil with 80, Rizal, Tinglayan, and Tabuk given 30 each, and Pinukpuk with 20.

According to United Nations, World Toilet Day celebrates toilets and raises awareness of the 4.2 billion people living without access to safely managed sanitation. Thus, it is about taking action to tackle the global sanitation crisis and achieve Sustainable Development Goal 6: water and sanitation for all by 2030.

Sustainable sanitation is resilient to climate change and safely processes bodily waste. Toilets, combined with clean water and good hygiene, form a strong defense against COVID-19 and future disease outbreaks.

ADVERTISEMENT

OTHER NEWS

Burnham Park swan boats saving lives in Cagayan

ADVERTISEMENT

Follow Guru Press Cordillera on Facebook for more News and Information