About 63% of residents in Ghana's Upper East region still practise open defecation, according to aid organisation World Vision Ghana, which called for faster action on water, sanitation and hygiene, AllAfrica reports.
Speaking at a regional hygiene summit in Bolgatanga, the group's interim national director, Joshua Baidoo, said the situation endangered public health and threatened Ghana's progress towards the UN goal of ending open defecation and providing adequate sanitation for everyone by 2030. He described handwashing with soap as one of the cheapest and most effective ways to prevent disease.
The regional minister, Donatus Atanga Akamugri, praised the summit and acknowledged that successive governments had not dealt adequately with the region's sanitation problems, while saying the current administration was still committed to tackling them.
Source: AllAfrica