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A recent report released by the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) has shed light on the alarming water and sanitation challenges faced by urban households in Ghana in 2021.
According to the GSS, a staggering 1.4 million urban households in Ghana lacked access to water on their premises. Approximately 27.7% of urban households did not have their main source of drinking water on their property, making it necessary for 89,922 households to travel more than 30 minutes to fetch their main source of drinking water.
Furthermore, the report revealed that nationally, 112,031 urban households were forced to rely on unimproved sources of drinking water, which are not adequately protected from outside contamination. The North East Region of Ghana had the highest percentage of urban households using unimproved water sources, with a staggering 24.0%, over ten times the national urban average of 2.2%. The Northern Region and Savannah Region also reported high percentages, with 10.0% and 9.3% of households, respectively, using unimproved water sources.
In addition to the water crisis, the report highlighted the sanitation challenges in urban areas of Ghana. Approximately 449,849 households did not have access to toilet facilities and resorted to open defecation. Shockingly, 1.3 million urban households used public toilet facilities, and over half of the urban households in the North East Region (54.0%) and Savannah Region (51.9%) practiced open defecation, which is more than five times the national urban average of 8.9%. The report also identified six regions where over 20.0% of urban households practiced open defecation.
This report underscores the urgent need for improved access to clean water and sanitation facilities in urban areas of Ghana to ensure the well-being and health of its residents.
