Ho, Aug. 15, GNA - Poor sanitation poses greater health risks than HIV/AIDS, Mr Emmanuel T. Nyavor, Hygiene Specialist of the Volta Regional Community Water and Sanitation Agency (VRCWSA) said. Mr Nyavor said studies had shown that one gramme of faeces could contain 10 million viruses, one million bacteria, 1,000 parasites and 100 parasite eggs.

He said diarrhoea, a sanitation related disease was the second single cause of child mortality after pneumonia.

Mr Nyavor was speaking in an interview with the Ghana News Agency at a photo-exhibition and Media briefing session in Ho on Thursday to mark the United Nations International Year of Sanitation 2008.

The exhibition was organized by the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Environment in collaboration with the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).

It seeks to raise national awareness on poor sanitation and its effects on the health and development of the populace. Mr Nyavor said more than 15,000 children below five years died from preventable diarrhoeal diseases in Ghana each year.

He said since 1993 the VRCWSA had been pursuing a series of programmes to improve on community water supply and toilet facilities in both rural and urban settlements in the Volta region.

Mr Nyavor said to date the Agency was able to provide 942 subsidized KVIP latrines and hand washing facilities as well as 10,254 Household latrines among other things.

He said a total of 147 KVIP latrines were being constructed, while three-16 seater Water closets and bath were being constructed at Kpando Torkor, Abotoase and Dambai markets.

Ms Irene Mensah, Co-ordinator of the Photo-exhibition urged the media to highlight sanitation issues because the situation was frightening. She said statistics published by the Joint Monitoring Platform of the World Health Organisation and UNICEF in 2006 on the sanitation situation in 52 African countries placed Ghana at number 48 for the whole of Africa and 14 out of 15 for West Africa.