Hygiene
About 40 percent of villages in Narok County have been declared Open Defecation Free (ODF), according to data from the Public Health Office. Narok County Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WaSH) coordinator John Omondi said 1214 villages out of 3023 had functional toilets and hand washing facilities nearby.
Omondi said this was a big improvement as some few years ago, over 90 percent of the population were defecating in the open hence exposing the residents to communicable diseases.
The officer attributed the improvement to collaboration between the public health workers and community health promoters who moved house to house sensitizing people on the need to dig a pit latrine and install a hand washing facility at their homes.
He spoke during a field visit in Siyiapei area in Narok Central Sub County where he led a team from his office to several homesteads to confirm if there was a functional toilet. “We came to confirm if this village is open defecation free. We have visited several homesteads and found a pit latrine, with a cover and handwashing facility. This is what we want in all our villages,” he said.
Narok County Director of Health Dr. Francis Kiio who accompanied the public health officers confirmed that over 80 per cent of diseases treated in health facilities around the county were caused by poor sanitation. Dr. Kiio encouraged all the residents to ensure personal hygiene by washing hands with water and soap regularly so as to avert communicable diseases like diarrhea, typhoid, cholera, vomiting, flu among others.
Narok county is among the 15 counties in the country that have low toilet coverage with Narok West and Narok South sub counties leading in poor toilet coverage. Which makes it a high-risk area for the spread of communicable diseases. “We should put more effort into the two sub-counties that are dragging behind by sensitizing them to the need to build a toilet in their homesteads,” said the Dr. Kiio.