A Global organization Sightsavers has called on governments, organizations, donors, and communities to increase access to water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH).
Sightsavers Country Director Dr. Sunday Isiyaku stated in a statement released on Friday that this will result in a decrease and ultimately eradication of Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) in the country.
He noted that Globally, around three in 10 people or 2.3 billion people, do not have access to handwashing facilities with water and soap at home.
Additionally, he stated that a concerning declining trend in Nigeria was evident, with only 21% of Nigerians having access to basic handwashing facilities at home in 2018 compared to 16% in 2019.
He said, “ Increasing access to WASH services in our communities and prioritising delivery of services based on the needs of each community in the intervention units is key in improving hand hygiene practices and vital for the control and elimination of NTDs.
” Large inequalities in access to WASH continue to persist at least two billion people rely on water supplies that are unsafe; 673 million practice open defecation, and an estimated 3 billion people have no access to basic handwashing facilities1 to practice personal hygiene.”
Nevertheless, he asserted that the group, working with the Federal Ministry of Water Resources, would keep the public informed about the value of handwashing through posters, radio jingles, and radio and television talk shows, as well as through demonstrations of proper handwashing.
Also speaking further on the topic Mrs Chizoma Opara, National Coordinator Clean Nigeria Campaign, Federal Ministry of Water Resources, said: “Hand hygiene is critical to our lives, we need to make hand washing a habit. Nigeria has developed a roadmap for hand hygiene, and we want to see increased intersectoral collaboration for hand hygiene.”
