Sanitation as a crucial factor for waste disposal Essay

2.1 Introduction Sanitationand health
Sanitation is defined as safe disposal of human excreta. Safe disposal does not only imply to excrete hygienically but excreta must also be contained and treated to avoid adverse effects on people'shealth. "Sanitationis more than independence" a saying by prime minister of India in 2008 who quoted Mahatma Gandhi of 1923(Singh, 2008).Adequate sanitation together with good hygiene and safe water are fundamental to good health, social and economic development in which each has different public health characteristic. Rates of morbidity and disease severity can be substantially reduced if sanitation was improved and hence improve quality of life especially in developing countries (WHO/UNICEF, 2010).
Lack of sanitationleads to disease, a scientific discovery since time immemorial 1842 in Chadwick's seminal 'Report on an inquiry into sanitary conditions of laboring population of great Britain'.Poor sanitation is noted to be a significant health indicator.A significant proportion of the global infectious disease burden is caused by diseases which are sanitation -related.Studies demonstrate strong link between poor sanitation and spread of infectious intestinal diseases, skin and respiratory diseases in prisons(Rabis& Curtis, 2006,Turabelidze et al., 2006).These diseases are caused infectious agent that can be transmitted by direct or indirect contact between the reservoir host and the susceptible individual (WHO, 2004).ID has moved steadily in backing up the health agenda, prompting new emphasis on developing strategies for prevention and control. Increasingly, this includes promotion of good sanitation to the family, both at home and in their social and work lives outside the home including prisons (Bloomfield et al., 2007).
2.2 Prisons sanitation and policy recommendations
Achieving effective, basic sanitation is a major challenge in many prisons. Sanitation is one of the most basic human rights issues of the prisoners. In a prison set up, primary set of international norms under which prison conditions are evaluated are provided by UN Standard Minimum Rules (UN SMR) revised in the year 2013 and International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) 2012/2013.Rules 12 to 21 provides sanitary conditions in which prisoners are entitled, to ensure humane treatment through provision of adequate accommodation, personal hygiene, clothing and beddings.The following is recommended for adequate sanitation in correctional facilities
2.2.1 Waste water and refusal disposal
The most intractable sanitation problem in correctional facilities is waste water and refusal disposal. Large proportion of diseases observed among prisoners is transmitted through feaces-oral route.If installations are not managed according to design specifications, costly problems occur. Emptying of the septic tanks should be done every one to three years when the content of semi-solid organic matter reaches one third of the height from the bottom.
Emptying should be done thoroughly including removal of sludge and liquid portion to avoid clogging. Cumulated amount of human excreta is estimated to be 40-90 litres (0.04-0.09m3) per year per person exclusive of materials for anal cleansing and number of people using the toilet.3m3 is expressed for 10 inmates in a year. Ensuring proper waste disposal and keeping toilets clean in situations where water is short of supply is often impossible