Expenditure on Sanitation and Hygiene Frees Funds for Other Sectors- Ikeazor

Expenditure on Sanitation and Hygiene Frees Funds for Other Sectors- Ikeazor

Minister of State for Environment, Chief Sharon Ikeazor has said expenditure on sanitation and hygiene should never be considered a waste as it frees several funds for other sectors.

Speaking at the commemoration of this year’s Global Hand Washing Day at the Federal Government Boys’ College, Apo, Abuja, the Minister said: “Addressing sanitation and hygiene challenges in the country is a necessary and worthwhile investment for government at all levels and is a way to significantly improve the health, education, social and economic status of the country. 

“This is because, for every One Hundred naira (N100) spent improving sanitation and hygiene, between Three Hundred (N300) and Four Hundred Naira (N400) is saved which can be invested in health, education, social and economic development.”

She said: “Therefore, I want to use this opportunity to call on Nigerians especially those in places of authority (public or private) to ensure adequate provision for Sanitation and Hygiene including handwashing facilities at all times.”

Ikeazor said: “This year’s theme “Our Future is at hand-let’s Move Forward Together” could not be more apt and timely, considering the critical role hand hygiene plays in preventing and controlling the spread of the COVID-19 virus. The theme is also a clarion call for the global community to work together and leverage lessons learned from response to COVID-19 to address the perennial neglect of hand hygiene as a major means of preventing disease transmission.”

Also Read: Yobe Community Celebrates Buhari over Construction of Air…

The Minister said: “It is well-known that a large number of children die every year due to sanitation and hygiene enabled diseases.”

She lamented that globally, basic hand hygiene was often neglected, due to lack of access to handwashing facilities in key places, decrying that “40% of world’s population or 3 billion people do not have handwashing facilities with water and soap at home. More than 3.5 million children suffer from diarrheal diseases and this is not a small figure. Children, who are less than 5years old, are more prone to such diseases because of lack of knowledge about the importance of handwashing. The simple act of washing hands with soap can reduce infections by 50% and respiratory diseases by 25%. Hand washing saves lives.”

She said the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic and its devastating effect globally has further underscored the fact that access to Sanitation and Hygiene is not only a fundamental human right that safeguards public health and human dignity, but also an essential need when it comes to disease prevention. 

She added that the pandemic provides an important reminder that hand hygiene is a fundamental component of health and safety, noting that this year’s Global Handwashing Day therefore calls on countries to start planning for the future as they continue to strengthen their COVID-19 response and accelerate their pace for full recovery, a move that will reduce vulnerability to new outbreaks and help countries control diarrheal and respiratory diseases.

Ikeazor disclosed that the choice of a school to commemorate this year’s global hand washing day is quite deliberate as children including those at school are at particular risk of infections associated with poor water, sanitation and hygiene. 

She said: “Therefore, in marking this year’s event, we are carrying out proper hygiene education and handwashing promotion for schools in order to entrench the culture of proper handwashing in children and help prevent disease transmission, particularly diarrhea and pneumonia, two of the leading causes of death in children globally.”

Expenditure on Sanitation and Hygiene Frees Funds for Other Sectors- Ikeazor