Stakeholders in public health and education in the country have emphasised role of hygiene in public health and education, saying that hygiene should form part of national curriculum.
The stakeholders’ meeting, which brought together government officials, community leaders, and health advocates, was held to discuss role of hygiene in public health and education.
Speaking at the meeting, hosted by the Wellbeing Foundation Africa (WBFA), in collaboration with Reckitt, director of programmes and reporting of the WBFA, Mr. Williams Awotunde, said that, “by making hygiene part of the national curriculum, the nation can ensure that every child, in every classroom, learns the importance of good hygiene as part of their daily routine”.
He also said that the issue of hygiene is not just about teaching children how to wash their hands, adding that, ‘it’s about instilling life-saving practices, empowering individuals and creating a cultural shift towards health and hygiene.
“The role of education in this, is irreplaceable, and by making hygiene part of the national curriculum, we can ensure that every child, in every classroom, learns the importance of good hygiene as part of their daily routine”, he said.
Also speaking, Mrs. Cassandra Uzo-Ogbuh, representing Reckitt Nigeria, reaffirmed the company’s commitment to public health through initiatives like the Dettol School Programme, which she said had educated over five million children in Nigeria over the past 12 years.
She emphasised that hygiene should be taken more critically and adopted as a lifestyle. “Now, more than ever before, good hygiene and sanitation practices have become very important and should be adopted as a daily lifestyle to prevent the spread of diseases. Many of these diseases, like diarrhoea, and the flu can be prevented by proper hand washing habits and wide scale hygiene education”.
In his speech, the Lagos State Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education, Mr Jamiu Tolani, praised the Hygiene Quest Project for fostering improved sanitation in schools. He advocated for the inclusion of hygiene education in the national curriculum, emphasizing its potential to reduce absenteeism and enhance academic performance.
Deputy Director of Kwara State Ministry of Education and Human Capital Development, Mr Odedeji Taye, also supported this, noting that by July 2023, the programme had reached 56,000 students, nearly half of whom were girls. He projected an expansion to 200 schools by the end of 2024, reinforcing gender equality and improving school attendance.
Traditional and community leaders shared testimonies of the positive impact of hygiene education in their communities, fostering hygiene practices and encouraging greater cooperation between communities and stakeholders to drive behavioural change.
Kehinde Akinsola, National Programme Manager of the Wellbeing Foundation Africa, provided an overview of the Dettol Hygiene Quest since its launch. He highlighted its impact through school and community engagement, strategic partnerships, and sustainability efforts.
Akinsola outlined the key objectives of the program: Improving hygiene practices, reducing preventable illnesses and promoting healthy habits, enhancing school attendance and academic performance, improving student outcomes through better health, empowering communities and supporting sustainable development goals
and promoting community-led initiatives.
He also shared that nurse educators actively visit schools to teach children about microbes, handwashing, and hygiene using the program’s education curriculum. In addition, he presented the sustainability approach of the project, which involves establishing wash clubs in schools and building hygiene ambassadors to further cascade the knowledge.
A key panel session focused on embedding handwashing and hygiene education into the national education curriculum. Experts and policymakers discussed the framework needed for its implementation, with many stakeholders expressing support for government-led initiatives to institutionalize hygiene education in schools.
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