The United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) Enugu Field Office has called on duty bearers to scale up washing of hands with soaps in all institutions, public places, including homes as it plays important role in reducing the transmission of diseases.
The one-day meeting with the theme: ‘Why are clean hands still important’ was organised by UNICEF Enugu Field Office in collaboration with Broadcasting Corporation of Abia State (BCA) to mark the Global Hand-washing Day, with Ebonyi, Enugu, Abia and Anambra states under the Enugu Field Office.
Maureen Zubie-Okolo, Monitoring For Result (M4R) and Officer In charge, UNICEF field office Enugu, who spoke on behalf of Juliet Chiluwe, chief of UNICEF Enugu Field Office, noted that the practice would reduce the incidence of some diseases like diarrhoea, respiratory infection and tropical diseases.
She emphasised that hand-washing was a cornerstone of disease prevention, and its impact on public health cannot be overstated and that It was a simple incredibly effective way to prevent the spread of diseases and protect public health.
Chiluwe called on governments to integrate and budget for hand hygiene in national response and resilience plans, as well as long-term development strategies and that donors should invest in programmes that prioritise hand hygiene, promote access to hand hygiene facilities, and support public health and economic resilience.
Suppliers, she said, should collaborate with governments, health systems, and NGOs to ensure sustainable supply chains for hand hygiene products.
“Businesses should prioritise hand hygiene for employee health and safety. Institutions should implement a multi-faceted approach for hand hygiene, including promotion, accessible facilities, regular monitoring, and behavior reinforcement. academics should fill evidence gaps and translate research into practical resources for hand hygiene intervention and program development,” she said.
Read also: Oyo partners UNICEF on handwashing advocacy to prevent pandemics
According to the Chief of UNICEF Enugu Field Office, “UNICEF is committed to promoting hand hygiene among the communities we serve. We believe that by fostering a culture of hand-washing, we can contribute to a healthier and safer world for all. UNICEF supports national hand-washing campaigns and helps integrate hand-washing into other existing programmes like health, education and nutrition – in over 90 countries.”
Earlier, the UNICEF WASH specialist, Rebecca Gabriel, who spoke on the theme, ‘Why Are Clean Hands Still Important,” stressed the need to have constant hand washing, saying that regular hand washing was capable of reducing diarrhoea by 30percent, pointing out that hand washing could also reduce acute respiratory infection by 20percent.
She further pointed out that tropical diseases such as elephantiasis, which are endemic in many places in Nigeria, could be curbed through regular hand washing.
According to her, 83percent of the Nigerian population lack proper hand washing facilities and as a result, many people are suffering from communicable diseases.
As a solution to check the diseases caused by not embarking on regular hand washing, the WASH specialist called on governments to increase budgetary allocation for hygiene as well as provide adequate water for drinking and other purposes.
She lamented that in the South East alone, about 3.6 million households do not have toilet facilities, thereby indulging in open defecation that eventually permeate into water fountains and streams.
Speaking at the occasion, the Acting MD, Enugu State Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency, EN-RUWASSA, Chika Mbah, represented by Chioma Dick-Emmanuel, TA, WASH EN-RUWASSA, said that the importance of hand washing cannot be over-emphasised because it was through hands that diseases can pass into people’s bodies.
Mbah said that it was only healthy people that can be financially productive, adding that, “we are here to motivate everyone to embrace the lifesaving practice of hand washing. Together we can make a lasting impact on the society,” she said.
The UNICEF communications officer, Ijeoma Onuoha Ogwe in her introduction of the objective of the meeting, said that “by proper hand washing we break the transmission of some diseases.”
The meeting, she said, was to sensitise and educate the journalists more on what they should know about proper hand washing to enable them disseminate properly to the society, especially the decision makers on the need to increase environmental budgets.
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