ABUJA – Prof. Lekan Oyebande, a Water Specialist, on Friday urged government at all levels to ensure
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effective management of liquid waste disposal system to reduce cases of water-borne diseases.
Oyebande made the call in Abuja in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
He said improper disposal of water wastes had been identified as a leading cause of ailments among [pro_ad_display_adzone id=”10″]women and children in Nigeria.
According to him, many developing nations which have population and pollution issues are also facing serious water-related problems.
“Nigeria, African’s most populous country with about 170 million people, has limited water supply and one of its challenges is the difficulty in effective waste disposal system.
“We need all stakeholders at all levels to prioritise these issues to reduce the number of persons falling ill on a daily basis, “ he said.
Oyebande said people living in poverty-stricken areas suffer poor environmental health due to unsafe drinking water and waste disposal system.
He said poor hygiene behaviour and lack of sanitation due to rapid and haphazard urbanisation has led to crowded and unhygienic settlements.
“Countries suffer massive financial losses through health expenses on diseases that could be prevented very easily. “
He stressed the need to focus on improving access to safe drinking water and guaranteeing access to better sanitation facilities.
He said the dissemination of better hand washing practices and other hygiene behaviour would lead to a reduction in water-borne diseases and ultimately a reduction in health costs.
Oyebande said lack of clean water and sanitation could lead to wide spread diseases like diarrhea, saying this could lead to children’s absenteeism from schools.
“Poor health affects the children’s ability to learn and without education how are these children ever expected to break out of poverty.
“The provisions of safe water and sanitation facilities in schools are imperative as it will create a healthy and safe physical learning environment, benefiting both the education and health of school children.”
He also urged all schools to educate children on basic hygiene and sanitation, saying most children were eager to learn.
He said investing in children school sanitation and hygiene education will promote effective learning, reduce incidences of disease and worm infections and promote environmental cleanliness.
According to estimates from UNICEF and WHO published in 2013, a staggering 768 million people worldwide do not have access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation.
This, they say, cause illnesses and preventable deaths in hundreds of thousands of children each year while most of the people without access are poor and live in rural areas or urban slums. (NAN)