Water-bourne diseases high on govt agenda

National

THE Wash Policy (2015-2030) will try to address water-borne diseases, national coordinator Takale Tuna says.
Tuna said the Government was serious about addressing water, sanitation, and hygiene (Wash).
He said the policy addressed three major goals and the first was addressing water-borne diseases.
They have sought technical assistance to develop a five-year development and communication strategy to accelerate the implementation of the policy.
“We are working on that to make sure we collect the right data, know exactly where the villagers are, how many people are in the villages and so forth,” he said.
“So when we go on to implement the policy, we make sure to target where it is needed the most.
“The policy has been able to draw players in the sector together. We have the EU, World Bank and Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DEFAT) helping us.
“We have the ADB to look at the peri-urban – settlements around the towns.”
They are carrying out a feasibility study at Tete settlement in Port Moresby to find the appropriate approach to promote good water, sanitation and hygiene in settlements.