Society for Family Health tackles water-related diseases

In a bid to tackle the vast problems associated with unsafe drinking water encountered in both urban and rural areas in Nigeria such as diarrhoea, dysentery, gastro-enteritis, hepatitis, among others, the Society for Family Health (SFH) has introduced reformulated water purifier, called WaterGuard Plus.

The burning desire of the SFH, a non-governmental organisation, to bring in the product which is a brand extension of its earlier liquid WaterGuard product into the Nigerian market is to reduce the attendant economic consequences associated with unsafe drinking water and create a healthy workforce for the Nigerian economy.

The product, in powder form, manufactured in South Africa by Control Chemical PTY Limited exclusively for SFH, has the capacity to kill 99.9 percent of germs in water, SFH said.

Introducing the product in Lagos, Bright Ekweremadu, managing director of SFH, said over 88 percent of diarrhoea cases in Nigeria were attributed to unsafe water and poor sanitation while globally, diseases from unsafe water kill more people every year than all forms of violence. He regretted that 43 percent of the deaths were children below five years old.

According to him, it is true that communities in Nigeria have enough water to meet their needs, but regretted that this water appears to be doing more harm than good.

Ekweremadu recalled that in November 2004, SFH introduced the WaterGuard product in liquid form, but “the latest powder form product, WaterGuard Plus, is an improvement on the earlier brand.”

At the unveiling of the product, Shima Gyoh, president of SFH, said “one of the DNA that defines SFH as an organisation is the quest for continuous improvement in processes and products for the benefit of the community for whom the organisation exists.

“It is this philosophy that saw the organisation commence research last year to improve and deepen the many benefits associated with its legacy point-of-use water treatment product.”