From Charity Nwakaudu, Abuja
In commemoration of the 2022 Global Handwashing Day, Ministry of Environment in collaboration with USAID and BREAKTHROUGH ACTION Nigeria have organised handwashing activities, to advocate for the awareness on its importance.
Delivering the Key note address today during the event held at the Federal Government Boys College, Apo in Abuja, with the theme: “Unite for Universal Hand Hygiene”, the Honourable Minister of Environment, Mohammed H. Abdullahi disclosed that it was a known fact that a large number of children die every year due to sanitation and hygiene enabled diseases.
Abdullahi stated that globally, basic hand hygiene was often neglected, due to lack of access to handwashing facilities in key places as 40% of world’s population or 3 billion people do not have handwashing facilities with water and soap at home.
He revealed that in Nigeria, more than 3.5 million children suffer from diarrheal diseases and this was not a small figure noting that a simple act of washing hands with soap can reduce infection by 50% and this also reduces any respiratory disease by 25%.
The Minister pointed out that hand washing saves lives, however many people tend to wash their hands with only water, which has proven ineffective in removing germs saying that for many Nigerians, cleaning hands with soap and water was not really considered necessary, as soaps were mostly reserved for laundry and bathing.
“I am delighted to be in your midst today to commemorate the year 2022 Global Hand Washing Day. The Global Hand Washing Day is a global advocacy day dedicated to increasing awareness and understanding on the importance of handwashing with soap as an effective and affordable way to prevent diseases, save lives and help us in meeting Sustainable Development Goals, SDGs, 3 and 6.2.
“This year’s theme “Unite for Universal Hand Hygiene,” could not be more apt and timely considering the critical role hand hygiene plays in preventing and controlling the spread of communicable diseases. The theme is also a clarion call for the global community to work together and leverage lessons learn from response to COVID-19 to address the perennial neglect of hand hygiene as a major means of preventing disease transmission.
“It is a known fact that a large number of children die every year due to sanitation and hygiene enabled diseases. Globally, basic hand hygiene is often neglected, due to lack of access to handwashing facilities in key places-40% of world’s population or 3 billion people do not have handwashing facilities with water and soap at home. In Nigeria, more than 3.5 million children suffer from diarrheal diseases and this is not a small figure. A simple act of washing hands with soap can reduce infection by 50% and this also reduces any respiratory disease by 25%.
“Hand washing saves lives, however many people tend to wash their hands with only water, which has proven ineffective in removing germs. For many Nigerians, cleaning hands with soap and water is not really considered necessary, as soaps are mostly reserved for laundry and bathing.
“Let me use this opportunity to inform Nigerians that cleaning hands with soap and water removes germs much more effectively and significantly reduces the risk of disease transmission. Effective hand washing involves the following steps which must be adhered to religiously: Wet your hands with clean, running water, turn off the tap, and apply soap; Lather your hands by rubbing them together with soap. Lather the backs of your hands, between your fingers and under your nails; Scrub your hands for a least 20 seconds; Rinse your hands well under clean running water; and dry your hands using a clean towel or air dry them,” he explained
The Environment Minister while addressing sanitation and hygiene challenges in the country stressed that it was a necessary and worthwhile investment for government at all levels as a way to significantly improve the health, education, social and economic status of a country.
In his words: “This is because for every One Hundred Naira, N100 spent improving sanitation and hygiene, between Three Hundred Naira, N300 and Four Hundred Naira, N400 is saved which can be invested in health, education, social and economic development.
“Therefore I want to use this opportunity to call on Nigerians especially those in places of authority (public or private) to ensure adequate provision for Sanitation and Hygiene including handwashing facilities at all times.
“In recent times, the Federal Ministry of Environment in collaboration with stakeholders cutting across government at all levels, organized private sector, NonGovernmental Organisations,NGO’s, Community Based Organisations, CBO’s, Academia, Development Partners e.t.c has taken steps to deliver adequate sanitation and hygiene services to the citizenry.
“These measures include capacity building, provision of handwashing facilities in schools, advocacy/sensitization, environmental health surveillance of public places development of policies, regulatory and legislative frame works, implementation of relevant programmes and projects, establishment of relevant regulatory and enforcement agencies e.t.c. Despite these measures, the level of handwashing compliance in Nigeria remains abysmally low, thus fueling the spread of infectious diseases.
“The choice of a school to commemorate this year’s global hand washing day is quite deliberate. This is because children including those at school are at particular risk of infection associated with poor water, sanitation and hygiene.
“Therefore, in marking this year’s event, we are carrying out proper hygiene education and handwashing promotion for schools in order to entrench the culture of proper handwashing in children and help prevent disease transmission particularly diarrhea and pneumonia: two of the leading causes of death in children round the globe.
“The Ministry in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Education organized a training workshop and quiz competition on hand hygiene and sanitation for selected schools in the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, on Wednesday, 13th October, 2022.”
He said that handwashing materials and posters will also be presented to some schools during this event as a way to further encourage and promote hand hygiene.
“The Global Handwashing Day is also expected to be marked in all the thirty- Six (36) states and local governments’ areas across the country. To this end I have requested all the Sanitation Desks established by the Ministry in all the thirty-Six, 36 states and FCT to commemorate the day and embark on activities aimed at promoting good Handwashing practices.
“Let me also use this forum to charge all state Governments, Commissioners of Environment, Local Government Chairmen/Councillors, Environmental Health Officers, NGOs, CBOs, FBOs, Development partners, Organized private sector etc. across the country to actively step up their campaigns on hand washing as an effective means of preventing disease transmission,” he continued.
Abdullahi encouraged everyone to be a vanguard of the Hand Wash Campaign, saying that by so doing the maximal benefits from developmental efforts could be derived.
Also the Principal of the school who was represented by the Vice Principal, Academics Senior School, Mary Millicent Nnawuogo said that, “the hands must be washed as much as practically possible but must be washed at these critical moments such as after using the toilet, after coughing or sneezing; after cleaning a child who has gone to the toilet; after touching books and money; before preparing food; before and after eating; and after playing with animals. It is very important that the hands are washed properly by using running water with soap.”
Meanwhile, Representative of Breakthrough Action Nigeria, said that the organisation was the flagship of the USAID social and health communication channel to ensuring a healthy nation.