Mozambique losing US$124m annually to sanitation-related illnesses – Minister

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Mozambique losing US$124m annually to sanitation-related illnesses – Minister

3:04 CAT | 25 Feb 2018

APA (File photo)

Mozambique is losing a staggering US$124 million a year due to health issues caused by lack of adequate structures to deal with sanitation problems, Public Works, Housing and Water Resources Minister Carlos Bonete has revealed.

Speaking during a meeting to publicise the National Rural Sanitation Strategy in Nampula province on Saturday, Bonete said only about nine million people or 31 percent of Mozambique’s 28.8 million population have access to safe sanitation.

“Lack of sanitation and hygiene is an economic burden and contributes to about 90 percent of all deaths caused by diarrheal diseases,” the minister said.

Bonete said the country’s heath ministry reported 666,000 cases of diarrhoea in 2017 as well as 2,600 cholera and 120,000 dysentery cases.

According to the minister, the costs of poor sanitation are inequitably distributed, with the highest economic burden falling disproportionately on the poorest.

He noted that the average cost associated with poor sanitation constitutes a much greater proportion of poor people’s incomes compared to wealthier persons.

“Mozambique has until 2030 to address the challenge of raising water and sanitation coverage rates to a universal level and, to that end, needs more than US$4.2 billion,” he said.

Source: APA