Hygiene can save Malawi government money
Malawi government has been challenged to invest a lot of resources in promoting best hygiene practices among local people as a way of saving money which is used in treating diseases associated with poor hygiene.
Executive Director for Hygiene Project Roy Khonyongwa made the remarks on Saturday in Mangochi when his organisation held a sanitation open day at Chimbende Village in the area of Traditional Authority Chowe.
Khonyongwa said the country was losing a lot of money in treating diseases such as Cholera due to poor sanitation.
“We have seen how government has struggled to contain the Cholera outbreak in some parts of the country this year. Apart from the lives which have been lost, government has also spent a lot of money in controlling the outbreak. This could not have been the case if people in the affected areas were practising best hygiene practices,” said Khonyongwa.
He explained that before they started implementing its project in Traditional Authority Chowe, the area was registering a lot Cholera cases which he said were due to the fact that local people were not appreciating the need to have improved toilets and hand washing facilities.
“But currently, we have not registered any case of Cholera [in this area] because almost every household has a toilet and an improved hand washing facility,” he said.
While hailing the project, Traditional Authority Chowe revealed that in addition to what the project is promoting, he has also imposed a fine to village headmen who have few households with toilets and he expects them to do the same to their subjects.
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