Thirteen per cent of global deaths of children under the age of five occur in Nigeria, Michael Ojo, the Country Representative of Wateraid, an international NGO, said on Tuesday. It is around 100,000 children deaths every year, and 75,000 of there deaths are connected with inadequate access to sanitation and water.
He claims that this number could be vastly reduced trough people’s education.
“The simple practice of washing hands with soap or ash at critical times such as after using the toilet, before handling food, especially poultry and other livestock and after cleaning up children’s faces should be observed.
According to Ojo, in many developing countries the problem is not about the lack of soap, but about the fact that it is not used for hand washing.
“Our hands can either be channels for receiving greetings, warmth, comfort, sustenance or they can become the unfortunate vectors of disease causing germs.’’
He, therefore, urged Nigerians to ensure the promotion of behaviour change throughout the year and as a crucial part of everyday life. On his part, Bisi Agberemi, the UNICEF Water and Sanitation Specialist, said that handwashing had the potential of saving more lives than any immunisation.
“We can save 150,000 children every year; this occasion enables us to re-dedicate ourselves to this call for good hygiene of hand washing and it should be a collective effort by everyone,’’ Mr. Agberemi said.
