WHO Applauds Swachh Bharat’s Rural Component

• 04 Aug 2018

According to a report of World Health Organisation (WHO), Swachh Bharat Mission Gramin (SBM-G) will result in preventing more than three lakh deaths due to diarrhoea and protein-energy malnutrition between 2014-2019.

• The progress report on potential health impact from increased sanitation coverage through the SBM-G was conducted by the WHO for the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation.

Key Points

• India’s rural sanitation coverage escalated to 89.07% till August 2, 2018 and by 2019, the initiative aims to achieve 100% sanitation coverage.
• Under the SBM-G, 19 States and Union Territories were declared Open Defecation Free (ODF) and 7.9 crore toilets were built, while 421 districts were declared ODF. Also, about 5 lakh villages in the country were declared ODF.
• Before the initiation of SBM-G, unsafe sanitation caused 199 million cases of diarrhoea annually.
• 14 million Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) can be avoided between 2014 and 2019 by improving the sanitation facilities.
• WHO estimation of health impacts is based on comparative risk assessment (CRA) methods.
• The study found the evidence of improvement in drinking water supply, sanitation services and personal hygiene which had positive health impacts.

Swachh Bharat Abhiyan

• Swachh Bharat Abhiyan is a national campaign launched by the Government on October 2, 2014 to clean the streets, roads and build social infrastructure of the country.
  The Government has decided to achieve the mission's objective by October, 2 2019.
• Mission Objectives
  • Elimination of Open Defecation
  • Eradication of Manual Scavenging
  • Modern and Scientific Municipal Solid Waste Management
  • To effect behavioral change regarding healthy sanitation practices
  • Generate awareness about sanitation and its linkage with public health
  • Capacity Augmentation for Urban Local Bodies
  • To create an enabling environment for private sector participation in Capex (capital expenditure) and Opex (operation and maintenance)
• Mission Components
  • Household toilets, including conversion of insanitary latrines into pourflush latrines
  • Constructing Community toilets and Public toilets
  • Solid waste management
  • Effective Public Awareness
  • Capacity building and Administrative & Office Expenses (A&OE)