Michael Olugbode in Abuja
The Federal Government has known as for a nationwide handwashing marketing campaign to curb the unfold of infectious ailments, together with cholera and diphtheria, warning that poor hygiene practices proceed to reveal Nigerians to preventable sicknesses and undermine public well being.
The authorities stated the battle in opposition to infectious ailments should lengthen past hospitals and medicines to on a regular basis preventive habits, significantly correct handwashing with cleaning soap and clear operating water in properties, faculties, markets, workplaces and healthcare services.
The Minister of Environment, Balarabe Abbas Lawal, made the decision on Monday in Abuja on the 2026 Global Handwashing Day commemoration, describing hand hygiene as a public well being crucial that requires collective duty.
Lawal, who spoke via the ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Dr Salisu Usman, stated handwashing remained one of many easiest, most reasonably priced and efficient methods to guard people and communities in opposition to disease-causing germs.
The occasion, held at Police Day Secondary School, Abuja, in collaboration with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) and Nestlé Nigeria Plc, had the theme, “Be a Handwashing Hero”.
According to the minister, correct handwashing with cleaning soap and operating water can assist forestall the transmission of cholera, typhoid fever, diphtheria and different communicable ailments, whereas international well being estimates point out that the follow can cut back the chance of diarrhoeal ailments by as much as 50 per cent and respiratory infections by practically 25 per cent.
He stated the advantages of hygiene campaigns would stay restricted if Nigerians lacked entry to wash water, sanitation services and useful handwashing stations, stressing that public consciousness have to be matched with sensible interventions that allow individuals to undertake wholesome habits.
Lawal known as on governments in any respect ranges, private-sector organisations, civil society teams, conventional rulers, spiritual leaders and improvement companions to strengthen collaboration in increasing entry to handwashing services and selling sustained behavioural change.
He urged faculties, healthcare centres, markets and workplaces to offer accessible and correctly maintained handwashing stations, whereas encouraging dad and mom, academics and neighborhood leaders to make hygiene schooling a steady duty.
The minister stated the Federal Government, via the Ministry of Environment and different ministries, departments and businesses, remained dedicated to implementing insurance policies and programmes to enhance water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) below President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
He additionally linked improved hygiene and sanitation to the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, significantly Goal 3 on good well being and well-being and Goal 6 on clear water and sanitation, each of which have 2030 targets.
Addressing the problem of water shortage, Lawal urged communities to undertake reasonably priced, water-efficient handwashing applied sciences, together with tippy faucets, which dispense small portions of water and could be helpful in areas with restricted water provides.
He stated hygiene promotion should go hand in hand with accountable water use, significantly within the face of local weather change and drought, to make sure that efforts to guard public well being didn’t worsen stress on scarce water sources.
The minister additionally challenged younger Nigerians to make use of their creativity, digital abilities, faculty golf equipment and social media platforms to advertise handwashing amongst their friends, households and communities.
He stated youngsters who learnt correct hygiene practices early may carry these habits into maturity, whereas faculties that prioritised handwashing may shield pupils, cut back preventable sicknesses and minimise disruptions to schooling.
Lawal urged Nigerians to make handwashing a every day follow, significantly earlier than getting ready or consuming meals, after utilizing the bathroom, after dealing with waste and after contact with different individuals and animals.
He stated constant hand hygiene may cut back the unfold of infections, ease stress on healthcare services, enhance productiveness and assist construct more healthy communities.
The minister recommended the IFRC, Nestlé Nigeria Plc and Female Professionals in Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (FEMinWASH) for supporting the commemoration, and thanked the administration of Police Day Secondary School for internet hosting the occasion.
He additionally acknowledged the contributions of ministries, departments and businesses, non-governmental organisations, community-based organisations and the media to the implementation of WASH programmes throughout Nigeria.
Lawal urged Nigerians to recognise that defending public well being begins with easy, constant actions, calling on people and establishments to guide by instance and make sure that entry to correct hygiene was not decided by location or social standing.
“Clean hands save lives. The power to protect our families, communities and future generations lies in our hands,” he stated.
Earlier, Usman, represented by the ministry’s Director of Pollution Control and Environmental Health, Omotunde Adeola, stated the federal government intentionally selected Police Day Secondary School because the venue to empower pupils to unfold hygiene consciousness past the classroom and affect behaviour of their properties and communities.
He disclosed {that a} handwashing station had been constructed on the faculty with help from stakeholders, describing the power as a sensible step in direction of translating hygiene consciousness into on a regular basis motion.
Usman urged Nigerians to scrub their palms usually, significantly after utilizing the bathroom, dealing with waste and attending to youngsters, in addition to earlier than getting ready or consuming meals.
“Clean hands remain our first line of defence,” he stated, stressing that the success of Global Handwashing Day ought to be measured not by ceremonies however by lasting modifications in individuals’s every day habits.
He stated correct handwashing may assist cut back absenteeism in faculties and workplaces and enhance productiveness, whereas highlighting the duty of market ladies and meals handlers to forestall contamination by observing correct hygiene when dealing with meals and different items.
The commemoration strengthened the necessity to transfer past consciousness campaigns in direction of sensible interventions that give Nigerians the services, data and motivation to practise hand hygiene constantly.
