UNICEF: 163m Nigerians Lack Basic Hand Washing Facilities at Home

David-Chyddy Eleke in Awka

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has said that many Nigerians lack basic hand washing facilities in their homes.

A WASH specialist from Enugu Field Officer of UNICEF, Mrs. Rebecca Gabriel stated this during a zonal press conference held in Enugu to commemorate this year’s Global Handwashing Day.

She identified lack of hand washing at critical times as some of the reason why people fall sick frequently.

Speaking on this year’s theme: Why clean hands are still important; Gabriel frowned at the level of awareness among the people and the unavailability of facilities for hand washing.

She said: “Data shows that only 35 percent of schools in Nigeria have hand washing facilities, and that is not good enough. Imagine a child in nursery or primary school coming to eat lunch after playing during break, without washing their hands, because the facilities are not there.

“Also, only eight percent of markets have hand washing facilities available, and you can imagine that. Up to 163million of Nigeria’s population, and that is about 83 percent do not have access to basic hand washing services.

“Government can begin to take action on these. They can provide for this in their budgets, especially now that states are preparing their budgets.
“Beyond the good roads that we seek, beyond the fancy things government plan to do for the people, they can budget for provision of hand washing facilities.”

She mentioned five critical times to wash the hands to include; before cooking, before eating, before feeding children, after changing children’s diapers and after using the convenience.

She added that washing the hands with soap can curtail respiratory diseases by 20 percent, and 30 percent in diarrhea. She encouraged all to always ensure they wash their hands.

Earlier, Mr. Francis Nwaubani, the Managing Director of Broadcasting Corporation of Abia State (BCA), sponsors of the event said it has partnered with UNICEF to educate Nigerians on health and hygiene for five years, and will continue to do.