20110522
all africa
The United Nation's Children Fund (UNICEF) has called for active participation of the general public on hand washing campaign, stressing that it can cut child hygiene related diseases as well as child morbidity rate by 44 percent.

UNICEF which collaborated Unilever Nigeria Plc at a hand washing awareness campaign forum recently in Abuja tasked the populace to imbibe the culture, saying it is the single most-cost effective health intervention method.

The Chief of water, sanitation and hygiene section of UNICEF, Mr. Vinod Alkari at the forum said the direct consequences of poor sanitation and hygiene practices were high incidences of sanitation and hygiene related diseases such as cholera, diarrhoea and dysentery.

According to him, " in Nigeria, it is estimated that diarrhoea is responsible for the death of nearly 200,000 children under five years old every year, and respiratory infections kill another 240,000 young children every year. Up to 44 percent reduction in this incidence can be achieved through hand washing with soap or ash and water".

Highlighting efforts put together to promote the campaign, Alkari, stated that the organization has provided hand washing facilities in the 222 schools across the country, as well as sensitising over 2,500 policy makers, senior government officials and traditional leaders on hand washing practices.

He said the collaboration with Unilever provides a good model if scaled up for public private partnership for hand washing in Nigeria, pointing out that it would leverage resources and ensure synergy for establishment of a mechanism to drive the initiative.

Also speaking at the occasion, the managing director of Unilever, Mr. Thabo Mabe, noted that the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) on health can be actualised through the simple practice of hand washing.

"Hand washing with soap is an important public health issue because the pathogens responsible for many common illnesses can be readily transmitted through contact with hands. This is why we at Unilever through Lifebuoy brand have partnered with stakeholders who are vast in the dynamics of public health efforts, to promote hand washing with soap at key moments".