Anambra govt trains stakeholders in water sanitation

The Anambra State Ministry of Health in collaboration with Health Policy Research Group has trained stakeholders on water utilisation sanitation, and hygiene culture.

The Ministry hosted a 3-day training programme on water utilization, Sanitation Maintenance, and Hygiene practices, (WASH), for stakeholders in Awka, on Friday.

The participants were drawn from Ministry of Health, Ministry of Education, Local Governments, Environment, RUWASSA, Schools, various Communities, and relevant groups, in the State.

Declaring the event open, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health Dr. Mrs Oby Uchebo, noted that water is of supreme importance to man, as it belongs to category of the three physiological needs of man classified as AIR, WATER, and FOOD.

Because these have the power of life or death on man, and so man has fundamental human rights on them.

Dr. Uchebo noted that it is this need that the United Nations Organization(UNO), mandated that all Nations of the world, should ensure that the average man in the street should have free access to safe, clean, and hygienic water, by the year 2030, as an objective of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).

She said that it is this universal need for clean water for man, that inspired the Governor of Anambra State, Prof. Charles Chukwuma Soludo, to embark upon the construction of Pipe-borne water and reticulation of clean water along the streets of urban areas, such as Awka State Capital, Onitsha commercial city, Okpoko urban layout to implement the global mandate.

The Permanent Secretary testified that the water project of Governor Soludo is being witnessed in rural areas, with boreholes to serve as democracy dividends to the people.

She urged the trainees, to regard themselves as Ambassadors of Safe Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene and maintain Environmental Cleanliness, for Anambra, and internalize their lessons assiduously, both theory and practice, so that they can domesticate their knowledge within their localities.

Highlights of the event were Lectures on various ethics of Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH), delivered by intellectuals who served as facilitators for the program.

In her lecture, titled “PROGRAMME PLANNING AND IMPLEMENTATION; Dr. Mrs. Uche Ezenwaka, remarked that “Access to safe water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH), is essential for human health and well-being, asserting with concern that many households lack access to the basic services.

Dr. Ezenwaka noted that the implication is that lack of clean water exposes people to water-borne diseases, such as cholera, typhoid, and diarrhea, and so jeopardizes the healthy living of man.

She cited an example in Okpoko, Ogbaru Local Government Area, where the water-borne diseases, are prevalent, and pose a serious challenges to the ability of residents, especially children to survive morbidity and mortality.

“Planning and implementation of WASH should take a holistic approach to integral parts of safe water that include environmental sanitation, and hygienic attitude of the people.

“In Environmental Sanitation, it should be noted that the World Health Organisation,(WHO), mandated that evacuation of toilets, should be by water system, thereby banning open defecation.

“Availability of water in quality and quantity is imperative for maintenance and sustainability of Water System Toilet.”

In the hygiene aspect of water, she said that constant washing of hands with soap and clean water, is required while expressing her regrets that it was only during the epidemic of “COVID 19″Sickness in 2020 that people were mandated by the Government to observe the handwashing attitude and after that, people have forgotten the culture.

She advocated for the practice of “HAND WASHING ” regularly, to be resuscitated.

In her lecture, on SAFE WATER SUPPLY AND MANAGEMENT, Mrs. Mystery Ojiakor, said that Water Management is the process of planning, `developing, producing, distributing, and managing water resources in terms of water quality and quantity.

Mrs. Ojiakor emphasised the importance of meticulous water management because clean water keeps us healthy.

“Without clean water, people are exposed to the risk of contaminations of sickness of water-borne diseases.

“Good water management helps us avoid problem like floods, which can destroy homes, when water is well managed, it helps our communities grow and prosper,” She said.

In his lecture, “WATER STORAGE AND HANDLING”, Mr. Tochukwu Agwuncha emphasized the best practices for the storage of water, proper handling and transportation of water, and methods of prevention of re-contamination of water.

Mr. Agwuncha urged people to be meticulous in maintaining hygienic culture, in storing water for domestic usage.

He recommended that water kept for domestic utilization in containers must have covers, to prevent infiltration of dirty air or any other dirty object, that can pollute the water and diminish its quality.

Dr. Rose N. Amasiani, State Nutrition Officer/ Programme Manager FSH/ WASH demonstrated to the participants the proper way of hand washing.

Participants expressed appreciation for the lessons learned from the program, and pledged to domesticate them in the areas of jurisdiction.