Module 1: Health
Outcome: Individual member’s Understanding of Health (personal health and community health):
Health, according to the World Health Organization, is “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity”. A variety of definitions have been used for different purposes over time.
Personal Health:
Personal health refers to the mental, physical, and social well-being of an individual.
Community Health:
Community health is a major field of study within the medical and clinical sciences which focuses on the maintenance, protection, and improvement of the health status of population groups and communities.
Importance of good health to the individual and the community
Module 2: Hygiene
Outcome: Individual Participant’s Understanding of Hygiene
Hygiene refers to practices conducive to maintaining health and preventing diseases, especially through cleanliness. Hygiene is the sum total of all the actions or inactions that effect the health of an individual.
Personal hygiene includes:
Cleaning your body every day.
Washing your hands with soap after going to the toilet.
Cleaning your toilet with a proper toilet cleaner
Disinfecting your environment with a disinfectant like bleach.
brushing your teeth twice a day.
Covering your mouth and nose with a tissue (or your sleeve) when sneezing or coughing.
Washing your hands after handling pets and other animals.
Module 3: Sanitation
Outcome:
Sanitation is the set of plans and strategies designed to protect and promote health, especially as it relates to the disposal of household and human waste.
Sanitation includes:
Good Toilet hygiene
Use of safe and hygienic toilet facilities
Some facts
– In 2020, only 54% of the global population (4.2 billion people) used a safe and sanitary toilet: 34% (2.6 billion people) used private sanitation facilities connected to sewers from which wastewater was treated; 20% (1.6 billion people) used toilets or latrines where excreta were safely disposed of in situ; and 78% of the world’s population (6.1 billion people) used at least a basic sanitation service.
– Over 1.7 billion people still do not have basic sanitation services, such as private toilets or latrines. Of these, 494 million still defecate in the open, for example in street gutters, behind bushes or into open bodies of water.
– Poor sanitation is linked to transmission of diarrhoeal diseases such as cholera and dysentery, as well as typhoid, intestinal worm infections, schistosomiasis, trachoma and polio. Poor sanitation also exacerbates stunting and contributes to the spread of antimicrobial resistance.
– Some 827 000 people in low- and middle-income countries die as a result of inadequate water, sanitation, and hygiene each year, representing 60% of total diarrhoeal deaths.
– Poor sanitation is believed to be the main cause in some 432 000 of these deaths. Diarrhoea remains a major killer but is largely preventable. Better water, sanitation, and hygiene could prevent the deaths of 297 000 children aged under 5 years each year.
– Open defecation perpetuates a vicious cycle of disease and poverty. The countries where open defection is most widespread have the highest number of deaths of children aged under 5 years as well as the highest levels of malnutrition and poverty, and big disparities of wealth.
– Poor sanitation reduces human well-being, social and economic development due to impacts such as anxiety, risk of sexual assault, and lost opportunities for education and work.
– Poor access to improved water and sanitation in Nigeria remains a major contributing factor to high morbidity and mortality rates among children under five.
– 23.5 per cent of the Nigerian population defecate in the open.
Benefits of improving sanitation
Benefits of improved sanitation extend well beyond reducing the risk of diarrhoea. These include:
Reducing the spread of intestinal worms, schistosomiasis and trachoma, which are neglected tropical diseases that cause suffering for millions.
Reducing the severity and impact of malnutrition.
Promoting dignity and boosting safety, particularly among women and girls.
Promoting school attendance: girls’ school attendance is particularly boosted by the provision of separate sanitary facilities.
Reducing the spread of antimicrobial resistance.
Potential recovery of water, renewable energy, and nutrients from faecal waste; and
Potential to mitigate water scarcity through safe use of wastewater for irrigation especially in areas most affected by climate change.
A WHO study in 2012 calculated that for every US$ 1.00 invested in sanitation, there was a return of US$ 5.50 in lower health costs, more productivity, and fewer premature deaths.
Challenges
In 2013, the UN Deputy Secretary-General issued a call to action on sanitation that included the elimination of open defecation by 2025. The world is on track to eliminate open defecation by 2030, if not by 2025, but historical rates of progress would need to double for the world to achieve universal coverage with basic sanitation services by 2030. To achieve universal safely managed services, rates would need to quadruple.
The situation of the urban poor poses a growing challenge as they live increasingly in cities where sewerage is precarious or non-existent and space for toilets and removal of waste is at a premium. Inequalities in access are compounded when sewage removed from wealthier households is discharged into storm drains, waterways or landfills, polluting poor residential areas. Globally, approximately half of all wastewater is discharged partially treated or untreated directly into rivers, lakes or the ocean.
Wastewater is increasingly seen as a resource providing reliable water and nutrients for food production to feed growing urban populations. Yet this requires regulatory oversight and public education. Inadequately treated wastewater is estimated to be used to irrigate croplands in peri-urban areas covering approximately 36 million hectares (equivalent to the size of Germany).
Module 4: Role of Project HTC (building Hygienic Toilet Culture)
Outcome: Understanding the Volunteer Program
Hypo Toilet Cleaner wants to provide Corp members who might be interested in running a personal CDS project in sanitation the opportunity to be a change in their community and get rewards for their effort as volunteers who are responsible significant change in their posted community.
The plan is to commission Hypo Toilet Rescue CDS group, which is a community development initiative from Hypo Toilet Cleaner.
How Corp members can participate
Benefits for community and Corps members:
Improved sanitation will be provided to the community.
This project gives inspires corps members the opportunity to be a change in their community and champion a course that affects thousands of lives. Hypo Toilet Cleaner wishes to provide this platform for corps members.
Plot 44, Jimoh Odutola Street, Off Eric Moore Road, iganmu Industrial estate, Surulere, Lagos.