By Esenvosa Izah
Lagos – An NGO, Wellbeing Foundation Africa, on Thursday restated its commitments with the global partners to improve Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) conditions in all Nigeria healthcare facilities.
Its Founder, Mrs Toyin Saraki, Wife of the immediate past Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki, made the pledge on Thursday in Lagos.
Saraki said that the new commitments follow the inauguration in 2018 of a global WASH Campaign by the foundation.
She said: “These commitments are truly unprecedented and reflect the catalytic progress and impact of unprecedented advocacy at local, regional and global levels.
“In response to the UN Secretary General, António Guterres’ call to Action on World Water Day in March 2018, I retraced the steps of each of the programmes undertaken by the foundation.
“Also, I inaugurated its new “Clean Hands For All” WASH Campaign with the World Health Organisation (WHO) in Nigeria.
“I committed to work with my partners in the global health and development communities to stop mothers and newborns from dying from preventable and unnecessary complications, simply, because the most basic of WASH services are not available.
“To ensure that all countries implement the 2017 World Health Assembly Sepsis Resolution, hand hygiene must be a quality indicator in every facility and a national marker of healthcare quality, with access to soap and water monitored and assessed.”
Saraki said in a statement that the foundation was committed to disseminating information and advocacy regarding WASH standards through its influential MamaCare midwives.
She also said that the foundation partnered Unilever Lifebuoy, teaching about WASH in healthcare facilities and schools, continuing its #WASHWednesday advocacy campaign, and developing WASH for Healthcare Facilities Proper Cleaning programme.
Saraki said that the foundation had successfully introduced and intensified the WASH for Wellbeing hygiene in healthcare facilities’ techniques to health workers and patients in over 570 medical facilities in five states of Nigeria.
According to her, our challenge remains taking those standards to a national scale in Nigeria’s 36 states of the federation.
“To that end, I was encouraged by the speech in November 2018 given by President Muhammadu Buhari, declaring a state of emergency in water, sanitation and hygiene in Nigeria and launching of the National Plan of Action, “ she said.
(NAN)