Feature: Boosting health of Nigerians via access to potable water

Feature: Boosting health of Nigerians via access to potable water

Water they say is life, meaning that there is virtually nothing one can do without water.
Because of the importance of water, the United Nations declared March 22 annually as the World Water Day, as the world body regards access to water as “human right.’’

The theme of the 2019 World Water Day, is “Leaving no one behind.’’

Often time, children could not go to school due to lack of water in their various homes to either cook, bath or to perform other house chores. They also waste man-hours in search of water.

In most emergencies, many children die not because of gun shots, but because they could not have access to potable water to either quench their taste, bath among others, thereby exposing them to health challenges.

In health care delivery, absent of water further compounds patients health conditions as many of them are exposed to communicable diseases.

According to the latest report of UNICEF’s Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH), titled: “Water under fire,” children under the age of five are more than 20 times likely to die from diarrhoea, linked to unsafe water and sanitation, in conflict areas.

The publication indicates that in these conflicts and other emergencies, providing rapid, comprehensive and safe water and sanitation is a matter of life and death.

It specifically states that all over the world, water and sanitation are recognised as rights, and essential part of life-saving humanitarian responses.

According to UNICEF, when that right is denied or violated, the consequences are tragic.

Without safe water, sanitation, children’s health, nutrition, safety and education are at risk.

“They are exposed to preventable diseases including diarrhoea, typhoid, cholera, polio, and at risk of malnutrition.

“They are vulnerable to sexual violence as they collect water or venture out to use latrines, and they deal with affronts to their dignity as they bath and manage menstrual hygiene.

“In hospitals and community clinics, lack of water and sanitation hamper treatment of injury and disease and it compounds the health and nutrition risks caused by water borne diseases,’’ UNICEF noted.

Jurji Zaid, UNICEF Chief of WASH, Nigeria, identified WASH as human rights, adding that it is recognised all over the world.

According to him, fulfilling Nigeria’s human rights to water is essential for its sustainable development and poverty reduction.

“The United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights stipulates that an individual’s right to water includes sufficient, safe, acceptable, physically accessible and affordable water for personal and domestic issues,” Zaid said.

Zaid also identified WASH as key to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030.

He stressed the need for concerted efforts to make water available to majority of Nigerians.

“When Nigeria government decided to eradicate polio it was very successful, the country is capable of doing anything it wants, it should do the same for sanitation, ” Zaid noted.

He described WASH as a critical sector and cost effective.

According to him, it has an impact on health which is very straight forward and it has an impact on the productivity of the mother.

“For the mother to be responsible in caring for her children and everything else, she spent number of hours of the day fetching water.

“Sometimes, the children instead of spending their precious time in school, they have to go and fetch water, wait long hours if there is que.

“This is waste of time, because time is money, when you multiply time lost for this large population, that is why it has huge impact on the population,” he said.

Zaid said that lack of WASH facilities promote open defecation, adding that a lot of people defecate on available water sources or vicinity thereby exposing people to sickness like diarrhoea, cholera, among other water borne diseases.

“Mothers will not go to work as they will have to take care of their sick kids and most times they will have to take their kids to health centres, buy medicine which invariably affect their schooling.’’

On the percentage of the population that has access to potable water, he said that two thirds of the populations have access to improve water sources.

Zaid emphasised that access to potable water, does not necessarily mean that the water such people use at household level was suitable.

He said that external factors like availability of latrine at the vicinity, septic tank, defecation around water source could contaminate the water.

He said that according to 2016/2017 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICs), over 100 million Nigerians drink water contaminated by faeces, while poor WASH accounted for 88 per cent of diarrhoea worldwide.

Zaid noted that a 2015 World Bank report estimates that Nigeria requires eight billion dollars annually to meet WASH challenges.

“If WASH is a priority in the country, it is achievable, it’s a matter of WASH becoming high on the agenda; private individuals, communities can play a major role.

“On the issue of sustainability, if these billions are invested and nobody is taking care of the facilities they will vanish, the importance of sustainability to conserve these capital investments is key,” he said.

In the same vein, UNICEF WASH Specialist, Mainga Banda, said water and sanitation played critical roles in health, child nutrition as well as education.

She stressed that non availability of water and sanitation facilities have a lot of implication, especially for the girl-child in menstrual hygiene management.

Mainga emphasised that lack of water facilities in the school affect their school attendance and eventually their performance.

She advocated provision of WASH facilities in schools, as it would help in the reduction of diarrhoea.

As critical stakeholders suggested, government should show the same commitment and make investments in WASH, as it did in polio eradication programmes.

They say that with investments and prudent management of resources, potable water will be available to majority of Nigerians.

A news analysis by Felicia Imohimi, News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)

Photo Credit: Google