Gov't has increased access to toilet facilities from 33% to 59% — Bawumia

According to the 2021 Population and Housing Census undertaken by the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS), the number of households that currently have access to toilet facilities has increased from 33% to 59.3%.

The percentage of households with access to basic drinking water has seen a significant improvement from 79% in 2018 to 87.7% in 2021.

"These improvements have resulted in very significant gains. For instance, not a single case of cholera has been recorded in the past six years", Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia made this known on Wednesday, October 19, 2022, in Accra.

The Vice President, who was speaking at the opening ceremony of the 'All Systems Go Forum' organized by the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources, said the government has shown its commitment to addressing the water and sanitation needs of Ghanaians while meeting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

"As the Co-Chair of the Sustainable Development Goals, His Excellency President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has demonstrated adequate commitment to ensuring that Ghana meets the 2030 Agenda for the SDGs, with equal emphasis on SDG 6, within the stipulated time," he said.

The interventions in the water sub-sector are expected to result in additional 4.3 million beneficiaries having access to potable water, Dr. Bawumia added.

He earlier disclosed that the government is investing an amount of 740 million dollars in the provision of drinking water under a policy dubbed "water for all".

According to Dr. Bawumia, the significant investment of over 740 million dollars in various water projects across the country has resulted in increasing the percentage of Ghanaians who have access to potable drinking water in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal for the provision of clean water and sanitation for all.

Dr. Bawumia said when he commissioned a town water project in Tuna in the Savannah Region adding that the successes chalked by the government in providing potable drinking water for rural and urban dwellers have resulted in a reduction of sanitation-related diseases such as cholera.