Hand-washing saves lives, says UNICEF

By Sadiq Abubakar

Maiduguri

United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has said washing of hands with water and soap has saved many lives of people from contracting “water borne diseases” that claimed 59 lives in Borno state last month.
The field officer of UNICEF, Geoffrey Ijumba disclosed this on Monday in Maiduguri to mark this year’s Global Hand-washing Day at Bakassi Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camp.
He also that said people cannot wash their hands in a clean way, if there is no water and soap or ash.
According to him, a combination of water and soap to wash hands has saved many lives of people living in rural and urban centres of Borno state.
“You go out there to find hand pumps. When the pumps are not working properly, we are provided solar-powered pumps. When these pumps are not working properly, we have motorised them with electric powered-pumps.”
Ijumba said “this is to make sure that there is water to wash hands on continual basis for life.”
He said “when all these fail, we also make sure that we trap the water when it is need for daily hand wash of people, as UNICEF is still fighting cholera, despite the loss of lives last month.”
However, Ijumba assured that there was light at the end of tunnel, because of the non-outbreak of cholera last week.
Borno state Commissioner for Water Resources, Dr. Zainab Gimba, attributed incidence of cholera to poor hygiene practices among the people living in urban and rural centres.
According to her, regular washing of hands with soap is the most effective way to stop the spread of diarrhoea, cholera and pneumonia.
Gimba said regular hand washing with soap had reduced the incidences of diarrhea and pneumonia by about 50 per cent and 25 per cent.
“Effective and lifesaving weapon is rarely practiced and must be encouraged in homes, schools, hospitals, markets and public gatherings, where people eat during festivities and marriage and naming ceremonies,” she said.
She said the state government had targeted 70 per cent of houses and 100 per cent of schools with hygiene sanitation facilities by the 2025.
Meanwhile, she said significant progress had been on improved water and sanitation services in IDPs camps and host communities, including rural centres.

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