UNICEF Bemoans Nigerian Uncleaniness, Says 86% Do Not Wash Hands after Cleaning Child’s Feaces
LAGOS OCTOBER 16TH (URHOBOTODAY)- In a survey that UNICEF carried out in six states, we found that an average of 82 per cent of people washed their hands before eating, while only 53 per cent of people washed their hands with soap after defecation. Alarmingly, only about 14 per cent of people wash their hands with soap after cleaning a child’s faeces.
This poses a serious public-health risk. Every year Nigeria loses over 150,000 children from diarrhoea alone, largely caused by unsafe water, sanitation & hygiene practices. This is equivalent to a big passenger aircraft crashing every day.
Regular handwashing with soap after using toilets, after changing children’s nappies and before eating or handling food saves more lives than any single vaccine or medical intervention. It can reduce deaths from diarrhea by almost half and deaths from acute respiratory infections by one-quarter.
Handwashing with soap was also an important line of defense against the spread of Ebola in Nigeria.
To mark Global Handwashing Day in Nigeria, UNICEF, with the Federal Ministry of Water Resources, the National Task Group on Sanitation and other partners plans to reach at least 10 million Nigerians this year through high profile handwashing demonstrations in schools and communities, mass rallies, road shows, airing of jingles on radio and television, and dissemination of handwashing messages on U-Report, Facebook and Twitter.
