Kenya spends over Sh24 billion to treat diseases related to hygiene, water and sanitation, a senior public health official has said.
Speaking to journalists during a wash sensitisation workshop for occupational health officers in Nakuru on Monday, Benjamin Murkomen said that members of the public need to embrace hand washing to reduce poor hygiene-related diseases.
The Ministry of Health official added that 88 percent of diarrhoea diseases are due to poor sanitation and contaminated water.
Nakuru County public health officer Samuel King’ori said the county is spending a lot of money dealing with preventable diseases occasioned by poor hygiene.
"We are losing almost Sh1 billion treating diarrhoea-related cases. This money is enough to run three ministries in the county annually,” said King’ori.
He added that last year, 776,000 diarrhoea cases were reported in Nakuru County.
To address the issue of open defecation, King’ori added that 10 modern toilets have already been constructed in Nakuru town to cater for more than 10,000 people.
The sensitisation workshop also aims at coming up with policies that will see special facilities set up for people living with disabilities.