Due Attention to Environmental Defense!

August 5, 2025

It is crystal clear that the multifarious activities of human beings on the environment have tended to degrade and make the surrounding untidy and unfit for social habitation because of its poor sanitation and grubby nature.

Ethiopia, a country located at the Eastern part of the African continent, is inhabited by a population of 120 plus million. Besides, human beings and the environment have been highly intertwined and two sides of the same coin, in fact. Hence, the health of the environment has to be well maintained and inhabitants themselves should give due emphasis to their environment.

Taking this concrete fact into account, The Ethiopian Herald conducted an exclusive interview with Haileyesus Kefyalew, an environmental expert graduated from Haramaya University, to have a piece of information about environmental protection and the way forward.

He said, “Under normal circumstances, living things interact symbolically among themselves and with the very lively physical environment. As learnt from the sayings of the great philosopher Louis Pastur that reads ‘before man came to the scene, the physical environment was as pure as the spring water.’

From this one can easily deduce that the ones who are seriously responsible for the comprehensive mess happened upon mother earth, the respective environments of human beings when cascaded down, are human beings themselves, no one is to blame for sure.

No doubt, community participation is crucial for effective environmental sanitation, enabling communities to actively contribute to planning, implementation, and management of their surroundings as the solution in is in their hand as the cause for pollution and environmental contamination was the outcome of their intervention, peculiarly reckless and irresponsible one. This involvement fosters a sense of ownership, responsibility, and leverages local knowledge for better outcomes.

Environmental sanitation is the supervision of the physical, biological, social and economic environment that affects human health, where the useful environment is improved and multiplied while the harmful ones are repaired or eliminated.

Definitely, environment refers to the natural setting in which man, animals and plants live and interact and it includes basically the land, water and air. It is upon this natural surrounding that all creatures depend for their existence and sustenance.

To put more succinctly, this physical environment can be taken to be all the natural establishments of the creator such as the laud physiques, water bodies, and vegetation etc. which harbor a variety of living and non-living things. The interesting thing to observe is that the living components of creation are found in all facets of the physical scenery, he opined.

Here, he said the diseases of all sorts are most common in places with poor sanitation, crowding, unrest, war and famine. No doubt, most eating places such as hotels, restaurants and even mobile food sellers are sources of diseases. Most of these cooking, especially the open air cooking are done in filthy environments.

So, environmental sanitation could never be compromised. As environmental sanitation refers to the management of human excreta, solid waste and wastewater to prevent contamination and ensure hygiene, the government along with the community is duty bound to reduce the risk of disease transmission and community malady. Such an appealing approach can be well intensified through applying proper disposal methods, all time functional drainage systems, and the timely provision of sanitation facilities in accordance with societal, cultural and physical considerations, as to him.

According to Haileyesus, environmental sanitation comprises human excreta control, managing solid waste and wastewater, and pest and vector control, proper waste disposal, responsible trash avoidance, among others.

“Human excreta should be kept away from sources of water and accommodation. Immediate action is taken to localize excreta disposal and prevent contamination of the water supply. Cultural and physical factors observed by the populations in excreta disposal are taken into consideration.”

Adequate numbers of latrines should be placed at no more than 50 m from dwellings in a manner that populations i.e., women and children can use safely at night even. At the beginning of an emergency before latrines are constructed, trench latrines or defecation fields may be used, he added.

He said, “For solid waste, garbage disposal areas must be designated and access to them is restricted especially for children. The quantity of garbage can become substantial especially around market places. If not taken care of, an accumulation of junk becomes breeding ground for rodents, vermin, and other pests. Garbage management should be done by providing individual households with metal bins for refuse disposal.”

“Unequivocally, environmental sanitation is a fundamental process that is a key public health intervention which is essential for social, economic and overall health development of communities. It is a set of actions or a fundamental process of collecting and safely disposing all kinds of waste within the environment with the intention of protecting and promoting the individual health and quality of life of communities. So it is a key public health intervention that is essential for social and economic development especially in developing countries like ours,” he underscored.

“This leads to the improvement of health, well-being and economic productivity and benefits the individual, household and community, and the nation at a larger scale, through the provision and practice of adequate sanitation, good hygiene and the use of safe water.”

According to Haileyesus, in Ethiopia, definitely the majority of people in the rural communities lack sanitation and even within urbanization scenario, the provision of improved sanitation remains a continuous challenge due to the inability to cope with the associated increase in population as communities move from rural, semi urban to urban development settings.

Yes, he said the levels of sanitation knowledge, attitude and practice have been poor to moderate; and a lot of attention is still required in the area of environmental sanitation especially in Ethiopia, with respect to not only employing and promoting strategies that influence behavioral change through effective regular education and awareness campaigns that are targeted, appropriate and consistent; but also, by advocating for increased public sector investments in basic sanitation infrastructures that is sustainable, well planned and coordinated. This will form the basis for adopting demand led approaches that will further empower people to improve their own sanitation.

Environmental Health according to WHO (World Health Organization) is an ecological balance that must exist between humans and the environment in order to guarantee the healthy state of humans. The scope of environmental health includes the provision of clean water / drinking water, processing and disposal of liquid, gas and solid waste, prevention of noise, prevention of water borne diseases, air, food, and vectors, environmental quality management of water, air, food, settlement and hazardous materials.

True, environmental pollution has an impact on environmental health which ultimately affects public health, which in turn will determine the success of the country’s development move. A good life expectancy in a country will have a healthy society and a healthy society will make the country have a quality society. In line with global climate change, there has been a massive environmental change which has an impact on the lifestyle of creatures, more and more pathogenic mutations that cause disease. Once the magnitude of the influence of the environment, especially on health, it is necessary to do environmental health efforts and environmental sanitation.

Generally, environmental sanitation is aimed at developing and maintaining a clean, safe and pleasant physical and natural environment in all human settlements, to promote the socio-cultural, economic and physical well-being of all sections of the population.

It comprises of a number of complementary activities, including the provision and maintenance of sanitary facilities, public education, community and individual actions, regulation and legislation support by clearly defined mandated institutions, adequate funding and research and development.

Most importantly, stakeholder participation was limited and relied on participation and transportation payments, which have become a permanent feature of community development in the country. It is a multifaceted approach to public health that focuses on managing the physical, biological, and social environment to prevent disease and promote well-being. It also encompasses various practices, including safe waste disposal, water sanitation, and vector control aiming at creating a healthy and hygienic living environment for citizens.

BY MENGESHA AMARE

THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD TUESDAY 5 AUGUST 2025