Open defecation and attainment of Sustainable Development Goal Six: evidence from Kintampo Surveillance System, Ghana

OBJECTIVE: This study examined whether the open-defecation (OD) free target is achievable by 2030. DESIGN: Longitudinal study SETTING: Seven sub-Districts of Kintampo North Municipal, and five sub-Districts of Kintampo South District DATA SOURCE: Kintampo health and demographic surveillance system PARTICIPANTS: Data was collected from household heads or their representatives over a 12-year period from 2005 to 2016. MAIN OUTCOME: Open-defecation and attainment of OD free by 2030 RESULTS: In an exploratory analysis, the correlation between the total number of households, year, and total number of OD households was obtained. The average percentage yearly increase or decrease in OD was computed and used to project the percentage of OD for the years 2020, 2025 and 2030. In addition, geo-spatial technology was used to visualize variability in OD across the twelve sub-Districts. The results showed that the OD free target is not achievable in 2030 or even if the current trend continues. In 2016, 44.2 per cent of the 31,571 households defecated openly. In six out of the 12 sub-Districts, more than half of the households openly defecated. Four out of these six sub-Districts were in the Kintampo North Municipality. CONCLUSION: The 2030 OD free target is not achievable in the Kintampo districts of Ghana if the current trend continues. FUNDING: Kintampo Health Research Centre funded this work