By Gabriel Ewepu – Abuja

As Nigerians continue to suffer from health challenges, the Minister of Water Resources, Engr Suleiman Adamu, Friday, ahead of the 2021 Global Handwashing Day coming up on October 15, 2021, warned that the war against diseases cannot be won without proper hand-washing with soap.

Adamu stated this at a press briefing held at the Ministry’s headquarters in Abuja, as part of activities to mark the 2021 Global Handwashing Day with theme, ‘Our Future is at Hand – Lets’ Move Forward Together’.

He also explained essence of the Day being commemorated in Nigeria, which he said it has become imperative for Nigerians to imbibe the culture of handwashing in their daily activities, which his Ministry in collaboration with development partners have championed the campaign and sensitization long before outbreak of the novel Coronavirus, COVID-19 pandmic hit the country in 2020.

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According to him October 15 is a United Nations designated Day for global advocacy on increasing awareness on the importance of handwashing with soap, which is an effective and affordable way to prevent diseases and save lives. This day is expected to catalyse local, national and global actions and build the culture of handwashing with soap.

He said: “The 2021 Global Handwashing Day theme is ‘Our Future is at Hand –Lets’ Move Forward Together.’ This is a follow up to last year’s theme of ‘Hand Hygiene for All’ which highlighted the Hand Hygiene Global Initiative launched by World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF to implement the recommendations on the prevention and control of COVID-19.

“This year the theme is focused on ensuring that we maintain the momentum and move forward together toward universal hand hygiene. It is a call to action to leverage on the experiences during the pandemic to address challenges of hand hygiene investments, policies and programmes.

“The future state of hygiene is in our hands, as we move to the new normal beyond COVID-19.

“Handwashing with soap is critical to disease prevention and not only helps people improve their health, but also removes barriers to economic opportunity, allows children to learn and grow, and helps strengthen communities. It is considered as an affordable, accessible “do-it-yourself” vaccine for sanitation and hygiene related diseases like diarrhoea, cholera, typhoid fever and pneumonia which are prevalent in our communities.

“It is estimated to cut deaths from diarrhoea by almost half and deaths from acute respiratory infections by a quarter. A study has shown that regular handwashing with soap can reduce the likelihood of COVID-19 infection by 36 per cent. It contributes to mitigating the transmission of COVID-19 and will remain an essential prevention measure while vaccines are being rolled out.

“Handwashing is a ‘first-line’ defense in preventing outbreaks and reducing the toll of both current and future pandemics. Handwashing with soap also helps to ensure the sustenance of efforts to end Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) such as River Blindness, Lymphatic Filariasis, Onchocerciasis, Soil Transmitted Helminthes and Schistosomiasis.”

However, the Minister said there are existing programmes, projects and policies to tackle diseases via handwashing, “The Hand Hygiene for All initiative is aimed at ensuring behavior change and lasting infrastructure beyond the pandemic and requires putting in place policies, institutional environment, handwashing facilities and scaling up successful evidence-based approaches for a sustained hand hygiene practice.

“It advocates for the development of hand hygiene roadmaps by countries to chart the part to sustainable hand hygiene culture among the populace even long after the pandemic.

“The ‘Clean Nigeria: Use the Toilet’ Campaign to end open defecation in the country by the target year of 2025 is ongoing and has incorporated hygiene promotion as an integral component, with emphasis on handwashing at critical times, to break the faeco-oral route of disease transmission.

“A National Youth Volunteer Programme on COVID-19 prevention is currently ongoing under the Campaign. This involves the engagement and training of 100 youths in each of the 774 Local Government Areas in the country, to carry out sensitization on handwashing with soap to households, schools, markets, mosques, churches and other public places.”

He also pointed that the outbreak of COVID-19 reawakened Nigerians to consciousness of handwashing practices and it is important the behaviour is sustained in order to achieve hand hygiene for all.

He also made it known that Nigeria has commenced the process of the development of a Hand Hygiene for All Roadmap earlier in 2021 with the support of UNICEF and WHO, which is expected that the roadmap charts the course of ensuring available and affordable products and services to enable a culture of handwashing with soap for all, especially those in disadvantaged situations.

He also disclosed that the roadmap, once finalized, will be integrated into existing strategy documents for implementation.

“The need for collective action through sustained financing, government leadership, donor and private sector support as well as community-level action, we must make available opportunities for everyone to practice handwashing with soap at all times and build a culture of good hygiene practices which lasts well beyond this pandemic period.

“I therefore enjoin us all to always remember that handwashing with soap is for all – great and small, young and old, rich and poor. We should therefore be advocates for making it a habit as we celebrate the 2021 Global Handwashing Day. Let us all choose handwashing not only on Global Handwashing Day, but every day”, he said.

Vanguard News Nigeria