Recently, Nigeria joined the rest of the world to commemorate the 2021 Global Hand Washing Day and reaffirmed access to sanitation and hygiene as well as the need to safeguard public health. HELEN OJI reports.
Working together
The Global Handwashing Day is a universal advocacy day dedicated to increase awareness and understanding on the importance of hand washing with soap as an effective and affordable way to prevent diseases, save lives and help in meeting Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 3 and 6.
This year’s theme “Our Future Is At hand-Let’s Move Forward Together” which held at the Federal Government Boys College, APO, Abuja, could not be more apt and timely, considering the critical role hand hygiene plays in preventing and controlling the spread of the COVID-19 virus. The theme is also a clarion call for the global community to work together and leverage lessons learnt from response to COVID-19 to address the perennial neglect of hand hygiene as a major means of preventing disease transmission. The first Global Handwashing Day was celebrated in the year 2008 and since then, the global community has been celebrating the day to mark the importance of preventing disease transmission through regular hand washing with soap.
Inadequate facilities
Minister of State for Environment, Sharon Ikeazor, said addressing sanitation and hygiene challenges in the country is necessary and worthwhile investment for government at all levels and is a way to significantly improve the health, education, social and economic status of the country.
Ikeazor noted that it is well-known 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 the world’s population or 3 billion people do not have handwashing facilities with water and soap at home.
“More than 3.5 million children suffer from diarrheal diseases and this is not a small figure. Children, who are less than 5 years old, are more prone to such diseases because of lack of knowledge about the importance of handwashing. The simple act of washing hands with soap can reduce infections by 50% and respiratory diseases by 25%. Hand washing saves lives,” she stressed.
Soap and water removes germs
According to her, many people tend to wash their hands with only water, which has proven ineffective in removing most germs. For many Nigerians, cleaning hands with soap and water is not really considered necessary, as soaps are mostly reserved for laundry and bathing, but cleaning hands with soap and water removes germs much more effectively and significantly reduces the risk of disease transmission. Hands must be washed as much as practically possible and must be washed at critical moments such as after using the toilet, after coughing or sneezing, after cleaning a child who has gone to the toilet, before preparing food, before and after eating, and after playing with animals.
She added that the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic and its devastating effect globally has further underscored the fact that access to Sanitation and Hygiene is not only a fundamental human right that safeguards public health and human dignity, but also an essential need when it comes to disease prevention. The pandemic provides an important reminder that hand hygiene is a fundamental component of health and safety. This year’s Global Handwashing Day therefore calls on countries to start planning for the future as they continue to strengthen their COVID-19 response and accelerate their pace for full recovery, a move that will reduce vulnerability to new outbreaks and help countries control diarrheal and respiratory diseases.
The Minister has directed 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.
Tools and resources
Also the Senior Manager, Nigeria and Africa Expansion Markets Global Government Relations and Public Policy, Mr Ridwan Sorunke, said it is important to provide tools and resources to sustain hand washing practices especially in high risk areas like markets, schools and hospitals.
Sorunke stated that beyond COVID-19, the number of deaths of children each year from infectious diseases, such as diarrhea are still considerable and represent a significant global crisis.
According to UNICEF estimate diarrhoea accounts for an estimated 150,000 deaths every year mainly amongst children under five due to unsafe water, poor sanitation, and hygiene practice. However, the good news is that good hand hygiene practices are one of the basic measures we can all take to help protect ourselves and our families against diseases
such as diarrhoea. Simply, hand washing with soap Safeguard, at key times, such as after going to the toilet, can go a long way in breaking the chain of infection and preventing these deaths.
“We are committed to promoting handwashing as an effective way to reduce the spread of diseases.
As part of this year’s Global Hand Washing Day campaign, we are on a mission to increase awareness on the importance of hand washing with soaps such as Safeguard, and drive habit change especially among our children.
Ensure better health
The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education, ARC. Sonny Echono, stated that hand hygiene has been adjudged the simplest cost-effective way to prevent the spread of diseases and ensure better health outcomes for all.
He added that the sustainability of hand hygiene is greatly assured when young
people in primary and secondary schools are involved in the campaign, therefore each year as young ones participate in the Global Hand Washing Day celebration, they would always remember that hand washing is one of the best steps to avoid getting sick.
“This will ultimately influence peers, family members and the entire society positively. It is worthy of note to state that the efforts of the Federal Ministry of Environment in ensuring that our young people are not left behind in the universal call for hand hygiene is quite strategic.
Echono stressed that the knowledge of proper hand washing technique garnered will be definitely institutionalized for posterity to promote the health and well-being of learners and the society at large.