WaterAid Nigeria calls for integration of WASH in fight against HIV/AIDS

To mark the World AIDS Day, which was held on December 1 across the globe, international organisation, WaterAid Nigeria has noted that while its focus as on organisation is on Sustainable Development Goal 6 and on everyone everywhere having access to safe water and sanitation, it is also reflecting on Goal 3 (good health and wellbeing) and in particular on the target of ending the global AIDS epidemic by 2030.

It also said that the Sustainable Development Goals are interconnected, and the eradication of extreme poverty depends on all 17 global goals.

While people living with HIV are more susceptible to Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) related illnesses such as typhoid and skin diseases, they are also six times more likely to acquire a diarrhoeal disease with 90 per cent of people living with HIV experiencing diarrhoea at least once.

WaterAid Nigeria’s Communication and Campaigns Manager, Oluseyi Abdulmalik said “Without sufficient clean water, sanitation and proper hygiene, people living with HIV will be more ill more often, and less able to live healthy and productive lives.

“At WaterAid, we advocate for the integration of water, sanitation and hygiene into HIV services and the fight against AIDS. Interventions around universal health coverage must include environmental factors such as water, basic toilets and good hygiene promotion within households. For people living with HIV, this would help to prevent opportunistic infections and enable healthier, more productive lives,” she said.

The organisation also on the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, which was held on December 3, said that across the six states where it currently works, from Jigawa to Benue, Plateau to Ekiti and Bauchi to Enugu, it ensures that more people with disability are living lives of dignity with inclusive water infrastructure, accessible toilets and improved hygiene services.

One billion people, which is about 15 per cent of the world’s population have some form of disability and the vast majority are living in the poorest communities in low and middle-income countries, where poverty is both a cause and a consequence of disability.

A lack of access to water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) particularly affects disabled people living in poverty. Inequalities are even starker when disability combines with another common cause of exclusion, such as gender, remoteness, ethnicity, chronic illness or ageing. If water, sanitation and hygiene services are not accessible in schools, hospitals, places of work and public places, people with physical impairments cannot fully benefit from them and discrimination against them means they are often unable to access these services.

WaterAid Nigeria’s Head of Governance, Ms Tolani Busari, said “Too often, the reasons why it is hard to reach disabled people in poor communities are discussed and the lack of data, the lack of accessible infrastructure and the lack of fund are given as reasons to delay, postpone or even ignore what needs to be done. This is not an adequate response.

“The needs of people with disabilities are often neglected and absent from most policies and standards. Information is not accessible and so people remain unaware of their rights, good practices, and the options available to them. They are not involved in decision-making, which can lead to inappropriate design of services thereby denying them access. Imagine what it’s like not to be able to get into a toilet or reach a water point; see your way around accessing a WASH facility or to be overlooked because you cannot hear or see messages about good hygiene. Even worse, imagine the difficulty women and girls with disability go through especially when pregnant or menstruating.

“There is a need to do more to tackle inequalities and break the barriers and stigma around persons with disabilities. WaterAid has put equity and inclusion at the heart of its work and we have encouraged others to do likewise. There is more and more evidence of the progress that can be made when all people involved in delivering water and sanitation facilities start taking real, practical steps towards inclusive taps and toilets for all.

“We are calling for those people involved in delivering services to make them accessible for all, to end discrimination so people with disabilities can claim their rights to water and sanitation. This means promoting the rights to water and sanitation and how people can claim those rights. It is time to get real and get practical now.”