Prof. Joseph Utsev, Minister of Water Resources and Sanitation, has said that an estimated 171 million Nigerians lack access to basic hygiene services, with varying disparities across urban and rural areas, geographic locations and wealth in the country.
Utsev, who revealed this on Thursday in Abuja at a media briefing to commemorate the 2023 Global Hand washing Day, quoted the 2021 Water, Sanitation and Hygiene National Outcome Routine Mapping (WASHNORM) Report, which indicates that national access to basic hygiene services is at an abysmal 17%.
The minister represented by Engr.John Ochigbo, Director, River Basin Operations and Inspectorate, explained that, “In schools and health care facilities, access to basic hygiene is 35% and 30% respectively, while only 8% of public places such as markets and parks have basic hygiene facilities.”
He said: “It may also interest you to know that a high knowledge of hand washing practices estimated at 99% was reported, in practice only 8% of the population can demonstrate proper hand washing with water and soap under running water.
In her remarks, Mrs. Elizabeth Ugoh, Director, Water Quality, Control and Sanitation in the Federal Ministry of Water Resources and Sanitation, underscored the need to entrench the culture of hand washing among the citizens through sensitisation and awareness creation.
Ugoh affirmed that hand washing would reduce the spread of diseases as well as produce a community of healthy people, who would in turn improve Nigerian economy.
The theme of the 2023 Global Hand washing Day is “Clean hands are within reach.”
The minister added, “In addition, only 4% are likely to practise proper hand washing with water and soap in critical times such as after defecation, touching animals or sick persons, playing and before cooking, eating, handling food, or feeding others.”
In view of these low indices, he pointed out the need to review the ministry’s strategies in order to strengthen interventions for greater effectiveness and sustainable results.
As part of measures to scale up people’s access to basic hygiene services, Utsev said Nigeria had commenced the process of the development of a Hand Hygiene for All Roadmap in 2021 in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020.
“The initiative was an offshoot of the global Hand Hygiene for All Initiative by the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF.
“The Roadmap which was launched in 2022 provided details of the policy and strategic direction to achieve hand hygiene for all, as well as a financing Framework with a Monitoring and Evaluation Plan.
