Kabale launches sanitation week

The national Sanitation Week 2024 is being commemorated under the theme, "Sanitation and hygiene for all; a key to sustainable health living".

Kabale District has launched a Sanitation Week, with a call for combined efforts towards improving sanitation and hygiene to reduce preventable diseases such as diarrhoea.

The National Sanitation Week 2024 is being commemorated under the theme, "Sanitation and hygiene for all; a key to sustainable health living".

The Sanitation week for Kabale, which started today Monday, was launched with the cleaning of Kabanyonyi market in Kabanyonyi trading centre of Buhara Sub-county.

Speaking at the launch, the Assistant Health Officer in Charge Environmental Health, Oliver Namanya, underscored the need for all stakeholders in the district to show commitments to improve on sanitation and hygiene, since it is vital in ensuring good health and other components of sustainable human development.

“ The week will be observed by reminding the stakeholders of the need to ensure proper sanitation and hygiene by cleaning their homesteads, the environment and other public places like markets and schools among others," Namanya said.

Namanya added that sanitation week also helps to awaken the public and create awareness to realise social behavioral change towards sanitation and hygiene in order to help in curbing preventable diseases.

Presiding over the launch of the Sanitation Week, Kabale District vice-chairperson Miria Akankwasa Tugume - who represented District Chairperson Nelson Nshangabasheija - warned the public against littering of garbage, in order to curb preventable diseases.

Akankwasa, observed that latrine coverage for Kabale stands at 86 percent and therefore urged those without latrines to construct them in order to put an end to diseases caused by poor sanitation and hygiene.

While launching the national sanitation week activities last month, Dr Diana Atwine, the permanent secretary at the Ministry of Health, noted that 75 percent of the disease burden in Uganda is preventable.

She added that diarrhoea, one of the top three childhood killer diseases in the country, claims the lives of 33 children daily, with 90 percent of cases directly attributed to inadequate water, poor sanitation, and unhygienic practices.