Basic sanitation and personal hygiene

The word 'sanitation' refers to the maintenance of hygienic conditions, through services such as garbage collection and waste water disposal. Proper sanitation is important to stay away from diseases at both personal and community levels.   

A number of diseases occur due to lack of proper sanitary facilities, especially among poor and rural people. By providing proper sanitary facilities to people, these diseases can be controlled and a number of deaths can be avoided. Inadequate sanitation is a major cause of disease world-wide and improving sanitation is known to have a significant beneficial impact. 

Presently 87 per cent of the world population has access to improved drinking water sources, with current trends suggesting that more than 90 per cent will do so by 2015. Lack of financial resources, lack of sustainability of water supply and sanitation services, poor hygiene behaviours, and inadequate sanitation in public places including hospitals, health centres and schools is the cause of numbers of diseases. 

  
Lack of sanitation causes 

• water-borne diseases including viral hepatitis, typhoid, cholera, dysentery and other diseases that cause diarrhea  
• Skin and eye infections (trachoma) spread easily  
• Global burden of disease
• Poor hygiene, inadequate quantities and quality of drinking water, and lack of sanitation facilities cause malnutrition

• 4 billion cases of diarrhea per year cause 1.5 million deaths, mostly among children under five  
• 6 million people are blind from trachoma and the population at risk is about 500 million  
• 300 million people suffer from malaria 

By following sanitation tips a healthy environment can be assured   

• Use adequate toilet and pay attention to proper handling and disposal of excrement
• Always wash hands before and after eating, as well as after using toilets
• Food should always be preserved without contact with contaminated water and ground
• Never store water in open containers for long period of time. Water containers should be washed and if possible disinfected on regular basis
• Avoid eating certain food items like un bottled drinks and ice cubes, unpacked milk, cream and ice cream, cold or insufficiently cooked meat, fish, egg dishes
• Preservation of meat and milk products needs special attention, especially in regions where cold storage is not an option

Initiatives has taken by Government to maintain proper health & sanitation   

1. The District Health Plan and Village Health Plan will be formulated  with the officials of Panchayati Raj, Total Sanitation Campaign, ICDS, and Drinking Water programmes   
2. A community level worker “ASHA”  have selected from the community itself to work as a link worker at village level.     
3. Departments of Panchayati Raj, ICDS, Total Sanitation Campaign and Drinking Water will be working to control sanitation