FG says only 4% of Nigerians practice handwashing at critical times

PEOPLES GAZETTE 

The Nigerian government on Thursday pledged to improve the culture of handwashing, as only four per cent of Nigerians practice it at critical times.

Water resources minister Joseph Utsev said this at a news conference in Abuja to commemorate the 2023 Global Handwashing Day, themed: ‘Clean Hands are within our Reach’.

Mr Utsev said that imbibing the culture of handwashing at critical times would curtail the spread of preventable diseases, promote human health, and strengthen communities.

According to him, handwashing is a ‘first line of defence’ in preventing outbreaks and reducing the toll of pandemics, as can be attested from the last experience with the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic.

Quoting the 2021 Water, Sanitation and Hygiene National Outcome Routine Mapping (WASHNORM) report, Mr Utsev said national access to basic hygiene services stood at an abysmal 17 per cent.

The minister, represented by John Ochigbo, Director of River Basin Operations and Inspectorate, noted that there is 99 per cent knowledge of handwashing practices, while only eight per cent practice it.

“It may also interest you to know that a high knowledge of handwashing practices estimated at 99 per cent was reported, in practice, only eight per cent of the population can demonstrate proper handwashing with water and soap under running water.

“In addition, only 4 per cent are likely to practice proper handwashing 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.

“These low indices indicate the need to review our strategies in order to strengthen our interventions for greater effectiveness and for sustainable results”…