Around 5% of Indonesian Households Still Defecate Openly

The number of Indonesians defecating openly has decreased year by year. However, this unhealthy behavior has not completely disappeared.

This is recorded in the *2022 Annual Report, Stop Open Defecation in Indonesia* from the Ministry of Health (Kemenkes).

According to Kemenkes data, in 2011 the percentage of households practicing open defecation (OD) in Indonesia reached 19.39%.

In subsequent years, the figure continued to decline, reaching 5.69% in 2021.

This OD figure is calculated from the proportion of households that do not have toilets, or have toilets but do not use them.

Open defecation indicates that some people still lack access to sanitation that is safe for health.

"WHO predicts that unsafe sanitation is responsible for the deaths of more than 400,000 people worldwide each year," said Kemenkes in its report.

"If feces can be safely managed from their source, then the likelihood of related diseases, such as diarrhea, typhoid, dysentery, and others, is low," it continued.

According to Kemenkes, the unresolved issue of open defecation is related to a lack of initiative from local governments in sanitation development, a lack of innovation in sanitation funding schemes, suboptimal cross-sectoral collaboration, or the absence of supporting/implementing regulations at the local government level.

"Sanitation has become a global issue and is included in the Sustainable Development Goals. Indonesia itself targets 0% open defecation and 15% access to safe sanitation by 2024," said Kemenkes in its report.

"In view of this, routine monitoring of the achievement of access to safe sanitation and the cessation of open defecation in Indonesia is needed," it continued.

Kemenkes stated that strategies to improve access to safe sanitation need to consider three things: creating demand for sanitation, increasing sanitation provision, and creating a conducive and supportive environment.

"It must be remembered that simply having a toilet is not enough, but it must be ensured that people actually practice proper defecation," said Kemenkes.

"Awareness of this healthy behavior remains a challenge in many places, which may be influenced by local cultural or belief factors," it continued.