Supermarkets ordered to have toilets for customers or face closure
The Ministry of Health has issued a circular directing all private and public institutions in the country to have sanitation facilities in their buildings, failure to which they will be closed down.
Director of Public Health Mr Kepha Ombacho said that no institution will be allowed to operate without toilets.
He also warned owners of institutions and buildings against charging for the services.
“If there is any mall, supermarket or school running without a functioning toilet, it should be shut down forthwith until they adhere to the stipulated standards in the circular,”said Mr Ombacho in Nakuru Town during the Global Hand Washing Day celebrations.
PREVENTIVE MEASURE
At the same time, Mr Ombacho urged schools to teach learners to embrace the habit of washing hands frequently whenever they visit sanitation facilities, terming it as a preventive measure against cholera and typhoid.
He said children acted as a link between the government and the larger population.
Mr Ombacho said that once enlightened, the children would pass the information on the correlation between non-washing of hands and diseases.
In the previous years Nakuru County was among the 28 counties that recorded alarming numbers of persons infected with cholera.
CHOLERA OUTBREAK
“The National government chose Nakuru County for this national event because of the cholera outbreak recorded last year,” Mr Ombacho noted.
More than 13 deaths were recorded in Nakuru on May 2015 in a cholera outbreak that hit various slums in the county.
The outbreak was majorly blamed on poor sanitation facilities.
According to Mr Ombacho, 528 children die daily across the world due to cholera and typhoid.
The Hand Washing Day, with the theme of ‘Make hand washing a habit’, involved students from Nakuru County and also Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) including Red Cross, World vision and United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef).
