By Gabriel Ewepu

ABUJA – AS Nigeria joins the rest of the world to commemorate 2025 World Handwashing Day, the Minister of Water Resources and Sanitation, Engr Joseph Utsev, Monday, urged Nigerians to adhere strictly to handwashing with soap as critical disease prevention measure.

Utsev made the call at a press briefing to mark the Day slated for October 15, 2025 with the theme ‘Be a Handwashing Hero’, which is an annual global event.

Meanwhile, the Minister said his Ministry is working assiduously to ensure communities are provided handwashing facilities to prevent disease outbreaks as the campaign against open defecation intensifies to sensitize Nigerians to stop the act by having befitting toilets.

He said: “The United Nations has designated October 15 of every year for global advocacy to increase awareness on the importance of handwashing with soap as an effective and affordable way to prevent diseases and save lives. This day is expected to catalyze local, national, and global actions that will contribute to instilling the culture of hand washing with soap.

“The celebration of Global Handwashing Day is occasioned by the realization that handwashing with soap is critical to disease prevention, as it not only contributes to health improvement but also eliminates barriers to economic opportunity.

“Moreover, it allows children to be steeped in the culture of handwashing, thereby using them to strengthen communities. It is therefore considered an affordable, accessible “do-it-yourself” vaccine for sanitation and hygiene-related diseases prevalent in our communities, such as diarrhoea, cholera, typhoid fever, and pneumonia.

“The adoption of this practice is estimated to cut deaths from diarrhoea by almost half and deaths from acute respiratory infections by a quarter.

“The tagline: ‘Be a Handwashing Hero’ challenges all of us – government, development partners, the private sector, communities, and individuals to take responsibility for safeguarding public health through proper handwashing with soap under running water. Being a hero does not require extraordinary powers, but consistency, responsibility in saving lives through simple everyday actions.

“I therefore enjoin all of us to always bear in mind that handwashing with soap is an imperative for all– great and small, young and old, rich and poor – leaving no one behind. We should constantly advocate for universal hand hygiene as an essential element of health and development as we celebrate the 2025 Global Handwashing Day.

“Let us join forces together to ensure improved hand hygiene practice and choose handwashing not only on Global Handwashing Day, but every day.”

Meanwhile, the Minister recalled and also reminded Nigerians about the important role handwashing played to reduce the impact of the deadly novel Coronavirus, COVID-19 pandemic, therefore, urged them to imbibe the culture of handwashing to prevent disease infections.

“Handwashing is a ‘first-line’ defense in preventing outbreaks and reducing the toll of pandemics, as can be attested from our last experience with the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic, where it contributed significantly to the Reduction of mortalities from the pandemic.

“It is therefore imperative for our collective action to accelerate access to hygiene services in Nigeria, in line with the Sustainable Development Goal Target 6.2, which is indicated by the availability of handwashing facilities equipped with soap and water on premises.

However, he (Utsev) lamented that a large portion of Nigerians do not practice handwashing after defecation, touching animals or sick persons, playing, and before cooking, eating, handling food, or feeding others.

“While a high knowledge of handwashing practices estimated at 99% was reported, unfortunately, we are still having challenges of a reasonable percentage of the population that cannot demonstrate proper handwashing with water and soap under running water.

“This is so because a lot of people still battle with handwashing with soap in critical times, especially after defecation, touching animals or sick persons, playing, and before cooking, eating, handling food, or feeding others.

“We must re-intensify our efforts to review existing strategies to strengthen our interventions for greater effectiveness and for sustainable results”, he added.

Also, in a goodwill message by the Minister of Environment, Balarabe Lawal who was represented by the Assistant Director, Pollution Control and Environmental Health of the Ministry, Aghogho Gbetsere, called on Nigerians be heroes and heroins of handwashing as the theme of the commemoration implies, in order to inspires, protects and preserve people and community.

“I am particularly pleased that the call for collaborative action by the theme has begun with my Ministry and the Federal Ministry of Water Resources and Sanitation in this press brief.

“Global Hand Washing Day commemoration serves as a vital reminder of a simple but powerful act of washing of our hands with soap under running water. This everyday practice is one of the most effective ways to prevent the spread of infectious diseases, reduce child mortality, and foster healthier communities”, Lawal added.

Earlier, in an address of welcome, the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Water Resources and Sanitation, Richard Pheewlangwah who was represented by the Director, Reforms Coordination and Service Improvement, Moses Jo-Madugu, made it known said, “The National Task Group on Sanitation, through the leadership of the Federal Ministry of Water Resources and Sanitation, has been at the forefront of promoting and advocating for increased adoption of hand hygiene to break the faecal-oral route of disease transmission and improve access to hand hygiene for all Nigerians.

“All the activities planned to mark the 2025 Global Handwashing Day commemoration are geared towards sensitizing the populace on the adoption of good hygiene practices.”