Wateraid Advocates for WASH Amenities in Healthcare Facilities
By Ahmed Ahmed
Wateraid Nigeria, has advocated for the provision of adequate water taps and toilets in healthcare centers across the country.
Mrs Oluseyi Abdulmalik, Wateraid Nigeria Communications and Media Manager made the call in a statement marking 2021 World health day made available to Journalists on Wednesday in Bauchi
She said every healthcare centre in Nigeria could have taps and toilets for just half-an-hour’s worth of COVID-19 spending.
“In Nigeria, millions of people are at higher risk of COVID-19 and other infectious diseases
“As 96% of all healthcare centers in Nigeria lack access to basic water, sanitation and hygiene services putting the lives of doctors, nurses, midwives and patients at risk.
“Providing doctors, nurses and patients with somewhere to clean their hands is one of the most effective ways to halt the spread of disease,” Abdulmalik said.
According to her, whilst vaccines and therapeutics are urgently needed, lives are being put at risk every day because the very basics of disease prevention are being ignored.
Abdulamalik explained that an essential injection of finance by the G20 countries would prevent millions of avoidable deaths through infections and diseases.
“Not only has research shown that washing hands with soap helps reduce the spread of coronaviruses by one third, but it would also help curb the growth of antimicrobial resistance as antibiotics are too often used in unclean health facilities as a ‘quick fix’ in place of proper hygiene,which is contributing to an increasingly alarming situation as antibiotics lose their power to fight infections,” She said.
Mrs Abdulmalik pointed out that Wateraid Nigeria country Director Dr Evelyn Mere, said we must find the money needed as a matter of urgency,
“To make sure all healthcare facilities in the poorest countries have clean water and soap before another pandemic hits.
“If frontline health workers can’t wash their hands, keep patients clean or have somewhere decent to go to the toilet, a hospital is not a hospital at all it’s a breeding ground for disease.” Mrs Abdulamalik explained.