Maryam Adebola-Salami, founder and chief executive officer, Mobaby Care, has said that basic hygiene, repositioning of urbanisation without neglecting the rural area and educating builders to provide drainage are essential elements to reducing planet pollution.
Adebola-Salami who through her brand creates solutions with naturally-sourced ingredients helping many babies live healthy lives also hinted that demand for good roads and electricity that help the Small, medium and large scale recyclers and up cyclers to transform and transport waste for better use will in turn reduce diseases, its spread and reduce the influx of children and adult in hospitals.
She explained that changes in agricultural practices and clearing land for farming are often associated with outbreaks of debilitating disease.
“Four million children and babies die of diarrheal diseases from contamination of their food or water. Hundreds of times, these numbers have intestinal parasites and debilitating diarrhea.
“It is estimated that over a million die of malaria every year, worldwide, among over 260 million cases. Most of these are children less than five years old. Hundred African children die from cancer due to exposure to toxins as their food, drink, cosmetics and open air emissions,” she said.
She further explained that lack of open spaces for recreation and exposure to natural elements, such as large parks with trees, bushes, and walking paths, as well as playgrounds and bike trails, is an important element in promoting ill-health and reducing the quality of life.
She said all measures that raise the standard of living and reduce the mortality rates among women and children also encourage global human and environmental health.
“Introduction of healthy meals to children, incorporating all the classes of food in the right proportion, education on child nutrition and embracing the African skin and hair without altering it with toxic chemicals will make a great impact.”
Speaking on the theme of the World Health Day ‘Our Planet, Our Health,’ she said the theme captures the current day realities as human life is well-adapted to the planet and a healthy environment is essential to optimal health and well-being.
Conversely, disease and early death are often due to environmental agents called pathogens, both biological and physicochemical. Climate change, heat waves, floods, land degradation, and the loss of biodiversity also threaten human health in a variety of ways, both direct and indirect, Adebola-Salami said.
On how government practices help reduce air pollution, contaminated water and inadequate sanitation,
She said government can help reduce air pollution by deploying technology driven solutions, ridding our roads of vehicles with bad exhaust pipes, sanctioning manufacturers to embrace sustainable production and consumption, providing free and prompt waste pick ups to enable easy flowing drainage system and mandating builders to create and ensure free flow of drainage from block to canals.
Read also: World Health Day: Air pollution puts millions of Nigerians at risk
Speaking on how Mobaby Care is helping to encourage healthy living in Nigeria, Adebola-Salami said, “At Mobaby Care one of our driving forces is the embodiment of Absolute Nurture and care for babies, children, people and the environment at large. We are an all-natural solutions company that uses plants, plant extract and other botanical oils to manufacture safe and effective body and hair care solutions for babies and children under 10 years.
“Our products undergo sustainable production, we encourage recycling and upcycling. We use only naturally grown and organically bedded by products to formulate our solution. We are child loving and earth conscious.”
On plans to commemorate the World Health Day, she said Mobaby Care will be visiting local health care centres in its community to educate and interact with new and existing mothers on the importance of choosing natural solutions for the children to further reduce the risk of cancer and other environmental borne diseases.
She said that mothers will also be taught on how to keep their environment clean to rid mosquitoes off thereby reducing the rate of malaria and mortality rate.
She added that Mobaby Care would also be using its social media platforms to advocate the importance of ‘our planet, our health.’
“Not many Nigerians can afford basic health care, Health insurance is not accessible to all and when available, rarely addresses concerns that are mostly life threatening, especially delivery and labour.
“You find that more than 40 percent of deliveries are still done at home and in unauthorised birthing centres because many moms like me cannot afford health care or do not trust the competencies of the primary health centres.
“In comparison to other developed and even developing countries, Nigeria has a lot to do in the health care system and that’s why my brand Mobaby Care is doing its best possible to collaborate with ministries and parastatals to bring good health to urban and localised women in support of the Sustainable Development Goals, good health and wellbeing for all,” CEO Mobaby Care said.
