Abuja — The Minister of Water Resources and Sanitation, Prof Joseph Utsev, Thursday, expressed optimism that with proper hand washing practice by Nigerians the death rate caused by diarrhea will be reduced by 50 percent.
Utsev stated this during a briefing ahead of the 2023 Global Hand Washing Day with the theme, 'Clean hands are within reach,' scheduled for Sunday, October 15, but will be commemorated in Nigeria on Monday, October 16, 2023, due to Sunday being a work free day as contained in a statement signed by the Head Press and Public Relation, Federal Ministry of Water Resources and Sanitation, Funmi Imuetinyan.
The Minister being represented by the Director Overseeing the Office of the Permanent Secretary/ Director River Basin Operations and Inspectorate of the Ministry, AJ Ochigbo, pointed out emphatically that the commemoration of the 2023 Global Handwashing Day is very significant, which is not only as the inaugural event under his leadership but also as the first edition following the establishment of the Federal Ministry of Water Resources and Sanitation.
According to him, the addition of Sanitation to the nomenclature of the Ministry has elevated the commitment to sanitation and hygiene issues in Nigeria, involving numerous stakeholders.
The statement reads in part, "He noted that the 2023 Global Hand Washing Day theme, 'Clean hands are within reach,' reflects progress in hand hygiene and the need for collective efforts to meet hand hygiene targets, adding that proper hand washing is a critical tool for preventing hygiene-related diseases such as diarrhea, cholera, typhoid fever, and pneumonia.
"The Honourable Minister underscored the importance of collective action to accelerate access to hygiene services in line with Sustainable Development Goal Target 6.2, which focuses on providing hand washing facilities with soap and water in homes and public places and provided key insights from the 2021 Water, Sanitation and Hygiene National Outcome Routine Mapping (WASHNORM) Report, indicating a need to review strategies due to disparities in access and the gap between knowledge and practice of proper hand washing in Nigeria.
"Prof. Utsev highlighted the substantial impact of proper hand washing, estimating that it can reduce the death rate due to diarrhea by nearly 50% and deaths from acute respiratory infections by a quarter and also stressed its role in preventing outbreaks and reducing the toll of pandemics, as exemplified during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic.
"The Minister expressed gratitude to partners such as Reckitt, Action Against Hunger, WaterAid, EU, UNICEF, and Sightsavers among others, for their support in these initiatives. He called for collective action to improve access to hand hygiene facilities and promote the practice of handwashing with soap, emphasizing that 'Clean Hands Are Within Reach' is a mission for all, transcending age, social status, and wealth."
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Also, the Director of Water Quality Control and Sanitation in the ministry, Mrs. Elizabeth Ugoh, highlighted the opportunity to promote and encourage hand washing as a cost-effective method for preventing diseases and avoidable deaths. She also remarked that the Ministry aspires to foster a community of healthy individuals who can actively contribute to economic development through effective hand washing at crucial moments.
To commemorate the 2023 Global Hand Washing Day, the National Task Group on Sanitation (NTGS) has planned a series of activities, including electronic and social media engagements, an official event in Abuja on October 16, and sensitization efforts in public places like markets and healthcare facilities.
