Unhygienic practices, poor sanitation and contaminated water, are some the major reasons behind most serious diseases found among people, especially children under the age of five. The 2017 combined global water assessment by World Health Organisation (WHO) and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), noted that about 2.1 billion people lack access to safe available water at home, and 4.5 billion people lack safely managed sanitation.
A UNICEF report further states that although hand washing was one of the cheapest, simplest and most effective methods of reducing the risk of contracting diarrhoea and other communicable diseases by 40 per cent, the practice of hand washing with soap remains dangerously low in sub- Saharan Africa. According to UNICEF WASH Specialist, Mr. Drissa Yeo, hand washing especially after exposure to a toilet or faeces, must be imbibed as a way of life to curb the transmission of dangerous pathogens into the body.
He explained that along with drinking water and access to toilets, proper hygiene particularly hand washing with soap, has proven to be the essential third leg of the stool holding up the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) on water and sanitation.
“A gram of faeces accounts for one million bacteria, 10 million viruses and 1,000 parasite eggs. When the eggs mature, they will break into viruses. All these are the leading causes of Diarrhoea and Diarrhoea is one of the main-killers in the world, today.
“Imagine you swallow one gram of faeces which got stuck in your finger nails simply because you did not wash your hands properly. This is why we have been hand washing with soap immediately after using the toilet is very important,” he said.
While calling on the federal government to make policies that would facilitate access to improved water sources and sanitation to reduce preventable diseases, Yeo implored state government’s to emulate and adopt the Federal Government’s expanded WASH programme as part of the efforts to deliver WASH services in the communities.
By: Regina Otokpa Abuja
New Telegraph News
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