By Deji Abdulwahab
Abuja – The Abuja chapter of the Environmental Health Officers Association of Nigeria has called on the three tiers of government to employ more environmental health officers to render dirt-free services.
President of the association, Mr Damian Mgbaramuko, made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Wednesday.
Mgbaramuko said that the number of environmental health officers was declining on daily basis.
He urged relevant agencies in the private sector to employ more officers to discharge public health duties.
According to him, of over 180 million population, Nigeria has over 10,000 environmental health officers, which is against one officer per 8,000 people recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
“Nigeria needs the service of these officers because they are saddled with the responsibility of inspecting the environment, particularly the public and private places to ensure environmental cleanliness.
“If your environment is cleaned, it will prevent you from contracting diseases.
“It will promote healthy environment,’’ president of the association said,’’ Mgbaramuko said.
Commenting, Dr Dominic Abonyi, the President, Environmental Health Officers Registration Council of Nigeria (EHORECON), told NAN that the council had registered 10,670 environmental health officers across the country.
Abonyi said that the council was saddled with the responsibility of registering and training environmental health officers.
According to him, the figure includes the retired and employed officers in the public and private sectors.
“We have 10,670 environmental health officers in our register. This comprises officers working either in government establishments or private sector,’’ he said.
