Poor Sanitation Increases Preventable Diseases in Nigeria- Minister

Poor sanitation has been identified as responsible for a significant percentage of preventable communicable diseases particularly in developing countries including Nigeria.

Nigeria’s Minister of Environment, Mr Mohammed Abdullahi stated this at the commemoration of the 2022, National Environmental Sanitation Day held in Abuja, the Nation’s capital.

He said that the Ministry of Environment in collaboration with stakeholders marks the importance of sanitation and hygiene as a veritable tool for disease prevention and control.

“Addressing sanitation and hygiene challenges in the country is a necessary and worthwhile investment for the government at all levels. This is because for every One Hundred naira (N100) spent improving sanitation and hygiene, between Three Hundred naira (N300) and Four Hundred naira (N400) is saved which can be invested in health, education, social and economic development. 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,” Mr Abdullahi said.

The Minister also urged media organisations to join the Ministry and other stakeholders in propagating Sanitation and hygiene practices to the general public, children, families, communities, associations as measures to reduce the country’s disease burden.

“The Ministry of Environment has been carrying out sanitary inspection of all Federal Government establishments, including Federal Government Schools, Ministries, Parastatals, Agencies Military and Paramilitary Barracks, Public places such as Petrol Stations, Abattoirs, Motor Park, Markets and regulated food premises such as hotels, eateries e.t.c. This sanitary inspection will be scaled up to the Government Establishment nationwide to enable the Ministry address issues of clean environment, food safety and vector control and the general environmental sanitation of the country,” the Minister added.

The Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Dr. Folashade Yemi-Esan, reiterated the government’s commitments to ensure a clean environment at all levels.

“Recently I directed the establishment of Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Desks across all Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies, The Office of the Head of Service is involved in ensuring a clean environment and we enjoin us all, as individuals and Agencies to continue to play our roles in order to achieve and maintain clean and health environments at home, at work and in our communities,” she explained.

She further said that the National Council on Establishments has also approved the creation of a new Occupational Health and Safety cadre in the Federal Civil Service.

“This is all in a bid to ensure that adequate attention is given to maintaining an optimal work environment – free of disease and injuries. In addition, my Office is working with Key MDAs on the Clean Nigeria: Use the Toilet Campaign to promote the provision and maintenance of clean restroom facilities in all Government offices,” Dr. Folashade added.

Chief Wash Officer, UNICEF, Jane Ben called on the government to step-up and accelerate programs in the areas of sanitation to ensure people dispose of waste properly.

“For me the most hazardous pollution of the environment is open defecation. If you translate that into numbers, approximately forty-eight million people defecate all over the country, which is really a shocking number of people, we cannot proceed with this anymore,” she said.

A Representative of the World Health Organisation, WHO, Dr Edwin Isoto-Edeh noted that the organisation would continue to support partnership with local communities to have a holistic sanitation program which also includes addressing open defecation, hand washing and environmental cleaning.

“And we are recommending that it is high time that the Ministry to join forces with everyone and other ministries and stakeholders to ensure to total sanitation and to cleaning in a way that is holistic and aligns with all of COVID agenda, including the National Environmental sanitation policy, the clean Nigerian campaign, and the One Health Approach,” he said.

The National Environmental sanitation Day Commemoration was established in 2005 at the launch of the National Environmental Sanitation Policy document.

The theme for this year is “Clean Environment is a Healthy Environment: Get Involved.”

Confidence Okwuchi