…expresses pain over loss of lives to cholera outbreak
By Gabriel Ewepu and Alice Ekpang
AS Nigeria joins rest of the world to commemorate 2021 Global Handwashing Day, the Minister of Water Resources, Engr Suleiman Adamu, Friday, said handwashing remains panacea to menace of deadly communicable disease in the country.
Adamu who was represented by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Water Resources, Didi Walson-Jack, said this at the 2021 Global Handwashing Day commemoration held in Abuja, while explaining the continued effort made by the Buhari-led administration through the Federal Ministry of Water Resources to demonstrate its commitment to the development of the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene ,WASH, Sector.
According to him there are some of the initiatives rolled out in this regard which include the development of the National Action Plan for the revitalization of the WASH sector with the declaration of a State of Emergency in the Sector, the implementation of the PEWASH programme, the launch of ‘Clean Nigeria: Use the Toilet’ Campaign to end open defecation by 2025 and signing of Executive Order 009.
Others are the Sustainable Urban and Rural WASH project to be financed by a World Bank facility which is being developed placed in the National Hygiene Promotion Strategy and the implementation guidelines for schools, primary health care centres and public places.
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He said: “This year, aside the global COVID-19 pandemic, Nigeria experienced an unprecedented cholera outbreak which affected many states. This placed a huge strain on our healthcare services and led to the loss of precious lives across our communities.
“As we know, cholera, being water borne disease can be prevented with the adequate provision of water and sanitation facilities, coupled with good hygiene practices.
“The outbreak was an indication that we must do much more than we are currently doing if we are to prevent a repeat in the future.
“The theme for this year’s celebration, ‘Our Future is at Hand – Let’s Move Forward Together’, is a call to action for us to maximize the opportunity presented by the current pandemic to address the lack of investment in hygiene and put in place policies and programs to promote hand hygiene at scale.
“We know that handwashing with soap is key to reducing the burden of many diseases which pose chronic challenges to the health of the population and development.
“It contributes to preventing and mitigating the transmission of diseases such as cholera, diarrhoea, lassa fever and COVID-19, and will remain an essential prevention measure while COVID-19 vaccines are being rolled out. Handwashing with soap will remain a ‘first-line’ defence in preventing outbreaks and reducing the toll of both current and future pandemics.
“Though the COVID-19 pandemic has led to increased rate of handwashing, it is important that this behaviour is sustained and ingrained as a habit. For people to be able to practice hand hygiene, they need access to hand hygiene facilities that are conveniently located and easy to use as people are much more likely to wash their hands if they have soap and water present near the handwashing facility.”
However, the Minister urged government at levels and the private sector to carry out more, “Investment in hygiene infrastructure and products must be accelerated in homes, schools, health care facilities and public places.
“Doing this will require sustained financing, the leadership of governments, support of the development and private sector partners as well as community-level action.
“On the part of government, there has been increased prioritization of hygiene programming and deployment of needed resources. A National Youth Volunteer Programme is currently ongoing under the Clean Nigeria Campaign.
“This involves the engagement and training of 100 youths in each of the 774 Local Government Areas in the country, to carry out sensitization on handwashing with soap at critical times and ending the practice of open defecation, to households, schools, markets, mosques, churches and other public places in their respective Local Government Areas.
“The youths are being engaged for a three months period and it is expected that through the interpersonal communication at the community level, every Nigerian will be reached with key messages on hygiene practices that will positively impact the health of the populace.”
However, the Minister disclosed that, “Nigeria has commenced the process of developing a National Hand Hygiene Roadmap under the platform of the National Task Group on Sanitation (NTGS), a coordinating body of organizations working in the water and sanitation sector.
“This development of the Roadmap involves carrying out a formative research and consultation of diverse stakeholders from the national to the State, LGA and community level. The Roadmap will establish clear implementation guidelines and standards for different settings and locations.
“It will also seek to define resource mobilization strategies and funding mechanisms, as well as identify suitable context-based approaches for hygiene promotion and highlight market-based solutions for hand hygiene.”
In a goodwill message, the Country Director, WaterAid Nigeria, Evelyn Mere, said, “The theme for this year clearly indicates the urgency and need for multi-stakeholder collaboration to promote hand hygiene and make it an integral part of our national life at all levels.
“The immense benefit of handwashing as a cost effective way of preventing the spread of infectious diseases at all times and most especially in the midst of the pandemic is already well established.
“We know that all Only 16 per cent of the population of Nigerians have access to basic hygiene services and only Five per cent of household members, and are likely to properly wash their hands with soap and water at critical times. This shows the gap both in infrastructure and the behavior of our people.”
The WASH Ambassador and former Head of Civil Service of the Federation, Engr Ebele Okeke, stressed that handwashing saves more lives than any vaccine and medical intervention.
“Handwashing with soap is often considered as a vaccine which we can apply ourselves., It is one of the cheapest, most effective things one can do to protect oneself and others against the infectious diseases earlier mentioned.
“Handwashing should be practiced at critical times, that is, before and after eating before cooking, after using the toilet, after changing sanitary pads, after contact with animals and sick patients to reduce the risk of these diseases.
“70 per cent of Nigerians have access to improved sources of drinking water and 40 per cent have basic sanitation facilities. It is important to note that 46 million of the Nigerian population still practices Open Defecation”, she said.
However, she decried that people with disabilities are often forgotten, but called on government and development partners to include them in the scheme of things.
