Sanitation
Issue Sanitation and personal hygiene play critical roles in protecting people from illnesses and maintaining a healthy nutritional state. Poor hygiene renders both children and adults more susceptible to a wide range of illnesses, from intestinal parasites to diarrhoea. Intestinal parasites reduce the absorption of nutrients and are a leading cause of anemia, which can lead to retarded growth and development. Diarrhoea is a major cause of death of young children as it leads to dehydration and contributes significantly to malnutrition. Inadequate environmental sanitation is closely linked to poverty, and the lack of access to clean water and food security. Despite the emphasis sanitation has received in China over the past decade, serious problems persist. A national survey in 1999 estimated that less than one-quarter of China's rural households had sanitary latrines, while in some provinces, coverage only reached 20 percent. About 650 million people—approximately half of China's total population—still lack access to sanitary means of human waste disposal. Local governments have taken steps to improve sanitation, but more effort is needed. Although all new houses are required to have sanitary latrines, these facilities have not been treated as a priority. The reason is not economic, but stems from inadequate knowledge of the importance of hygiene and the recent advances in appropriate technologies. The situation is not much better in schools, where water and sanitation facilities remain poor even in large and comparatively well-off cities. Hygiene actually has certain multiplier effects that may not be evident at first glance. Clean washrooms, for example, have a direct bearing on girls' education: When they reach puberty, girls may drop out of school if clean and discrete areas for bathrooms are not available. China's rapid urbanization has also contributed to the problem. In addition to roughly 660 major cities, China has about 18,000 towns, many of which have limited financial resources for sanitation projects and limited urban planning capacity. Most place little emphasis on sanitation and have few sewerage systems and/or treatment facilities.
Action UNICEF has undertaken the following activities to improve sanitation in China: - Harnessed private sector resources to design a more ecologically friendly and cost-effective latrine. - Advocated for increased attention to sanitation and personal hygiene issues by organizing visits to project areas for senior policymakers and government officials. - Taught over 1,000 provincial, township, county and local staff how to build sanitary latrines and conduct hygiene promotion and awareness campaigns. - Improved sanitation in 638 schools through the construction of latrines and hand-washing areas. - Mobilized and provided funds for teachers, students, and parents to beautify 20 schools by planting flowers and installing sports and playground facilities. - Supported the government with technical assistance and funds to plan and organize the Second National Rural Sanitation Conference. This event served as a platform to advocate for increased contributions for improved school sanitation facilities from local governments. Impact Changes in personal hygiene habits are closely related to economic development, cultural background, and local customs. Assessing changes influenced by such a complex mix of factors is therefore challenging. Nevertheless, surveys conducted in project counties indicate participants had acquired a much clearer understanding of the link between proper sanitation and good health. The surveys also showed that children in schools where latrines were built were happy that conditions had improved. In addition, the new lower-cost latrine design commissioned by UNICEF enabled 110,000 new sanitary latrines to be built, significantly increasing access for poor Chinese families in rural areas. Visits to project areas by senior government officials encouraged government decision-makers at various levels to budget 8 million RMB (roughly US $1 million) for sanitation improvements in UNICEF project areas—double UNICEF's contribution.
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