‘We’ve been having average of 10 cases of children with water-related diseases per week’

It was noon on Monday, April 1, 2019. Activities at the Children Emergency Ward of the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan were fast and gruelling. In less than four hours, three sick children with varying types of water-borne diseases were brought into the paediatric ward of the hospital. After being registered, their medical histories and diagnosis were taken.

One of those who were admitted for treatment that day was one-year-old Haliya Raufu whose parents reside at Oke Apon area of Ibadan. Little Raufu looked pale and weak. Sakirat, her mother, said she had been sick for the past three days and had taken some treatments at an undisclosed health facility before being brought to the teaching hospital.

Sakirat, who said she always maintained high level of care and hygiene for her daughter, explained that the girl had been stooling and vomiting. Her condition merely improved when Oral Rehydration Therapy (ORT) was administered on her. Sakirat and her husband decided to bring the sick girl to the teaching hospital three days after she fell sick.

She said: “We were disturbed about our baby’s sickness. She is not my first child and I am always very careful about what she eats and drinks for fear of infection. We use borehole water and I normally boil my water before use. Now, we were told that she suffered from acute diarrhoea infection resulting from contaminated food or water. That is strange but I thank God that she is now stable and I am sure that she would recover fully soon.”

As experienced by little Raufu, Ireoluwa Akinleye, was brought to the Otunba Tunwase Children Emergency Ward of UCH under a critical condition. Having been sick for about one week without full recovery, Mrs Tolani Akinleye and her husband, Oluwaseyi were advised to bring their son, Ireoluwa for test and treatment at the teaching hospital. The couple said the five-month-old boy had been on admission for the past three days.

The mother, who said that the baby was referred to UCH on Friday, told Saturday Tribune that she  had earlier taken the boy to a private hospital before bringng him to UCH. She recalled: “I called the attention of my husband when I noted that our son would not eat. He had loss of appetite and became extremely weak as a result. We took him to a hospital at Iyana Bodija area where we live and he was being treated.

“We were told initially at the private hospital that he had malaria parasite. However, after being treated for one week without any remarkable improvement, we were advised to bring him to UCH for treatment. We became extremely apprehensive about his condition when he was referred to the University College Hospital because that suggested to us that the case is more serious than we thought”.

Describing the experience as distressing, Mrs Akinyele said: “We have been on this case for the past 10 days. At a point, the boy could not move his neck. He lost appetite and became so weak. We brought him to UCH on Friday. Though we were afraid initially about his condition, but on getting to the teaching hospital our fear was assuaged. He started responding to treatment. Shortly after they commenced treatment, the boy started stooling but the doctor assured us that he would soon recover and that was exactly what happened.”

Tolani said she was surprised when her baby was diagnosed with water-borne disease considering the fact that she always keeps him under close watch. The mother, a fashion designer, said she always breastfed her baby and maintained high level of hygiene in order to keep germs and diseases away.

According to one of the physicians on duty at the children emergency unit during Saturday Tribune’s visit, most of those on admission at the paediatric emergency unit were suffering from diseases from infected water and food.  He explained that usually in the case of infection or infectious diseases, what started as a mild illness may turn out to be a serious disease with debilitating effect.

Dr Oluwatosin Abioye, a senior Registrar at the Otunba Tunwase Children Emergency Ward, said: “Most often, some parents would express shock when told that their children had contracted water-borne diseases, arguing that they are extremely careful on the handling of their babies forgetting the fact that germs would sneak in at the slightest opportunity.”

Abioye, who disclosed that most of the patients on admission were diagnosed with acute diarrhoea from water borne diseases, explained that children are more susceptible to germs and diseases considering their low immunity level. She said: “Mothers are advised to keep high level of hygiene for the safety and health of their children.

“Most children are brought into the ward as a result of water -related diseases. In this ward in recent time, we have been having average of 10 cases of children with water-related diseases per week and what this suggests is that majority of the people do not have access to clean and hygienic water for direct consumption and other domestic use. Sometimes, the water may be clean while the environment is not clean. This also predisposes humans, especially babies and children, to diseases because their level of immunity is not as high as adults.”

She said for sicknesses and diseases to be kept at bay, children should be raised in very neat environments and it must be ensured that other people relating with the little ones are also doing so under hygienic situation.

A pediatric infectious diseases physician at UCH, Dr Babatunde Ogunbusi, said water borne diseases are prevalent in Nigeria and other developing nations of the world because emphasis is not given to hygiene. The physician, who explained that water bodies in Nigeria and waste disposal system are not well channeled, said the condition posed a huge risk to the citizens considering the possibility of epidemic.

He said: “Ideally, water that people use should be safe. Provision of clean and hygienic water is government’s responsibility.  Unfortunately, in our environment, you see people searching for water and most times, the sources are not safe. The water itself may be good but could have been polluted by dirt from the neighbourhood. For instance, if in an area refuse is not properly discarded it could be washed into the water thereby resulting in water pollution. As a result of this, an otherwise hygienic water source becomes unsafe and compromised.

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“Many people are exposed to water borne-diseases when there is problem of poor access to clean water or when they have problem with waste disposal. We are saying that there are many sides to the issue of safe and hygienic water in the society. There is the side of knowledge and enlightenment and there is the side of people having access to safe water.

“Poor access to improved water and sanitation in Nigeria remains a major contributory factor to high morbidity and mortality rates among children under five. The use of contaminated drinking water and poor sanitary conditions result in increased vulnerability to water-borne diseases, including diarrhoea leading to deaths of more than 70,000 children under five annually”

In 2018, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), which plays vital roles in supporting the Federal Government to provide access to basic needs for children, said clean water, basic toilets and good hygiene practices are essential for the survival and development of children.

Research has shown that a high percentage of the diarrhoea and enteric disease burden is associated with poor access to adequate water, sanitation and hygiene. This is unduly borne by poorer children as only 26.5 per cent of the nation’s population use improved drinking water sources and sanitation facilities while 23.5 per cent of the population defecate in the open.

Based on World Bank estimates, Nigeria will be required to triple its budget or, at least, allocate 1.7 per cent of the current Gross Domestic Product to WASH. This, it stressed, is more crucial for rural sanitation where the gap for improved services is 64.1 per cent.

Speaking on the initiative of the Oyo State government  to curb water pollution and water borne diseases, the state Commissioner for Health, Dr Azeez Adeduntan, who spoke through the Director, Public Health, Ministry of Health, Oyo State,  Dr Wole Lawal, said the state had replaced some rusted pipelines in parts of Ibadan.

This, he said, was to ensure regular supply of clean and hygienic water within the metropolis. He added that the state government sank motorised boreholes in some communities within the state under a counterpart funding arrangement on health.

He said: “To curb water borne diseases like cholera, typhoid, dysentery, guinea worm and others, the state government made provision for potable water. We also train the people on how to purify their water. We have surveillance teams at the local government level that go about educating the people.

“Where there is an outbreak, the local government promptly responds through health education. In such event, all the wells in the community will be shut and treated with chlorine. The state government also collaborates with the councils. Where there is cholera, we purify the wells in the communities.

“We also go on air to sensitise the public on how to get their drinking water. For instance, during the rainy season some wells get contaminated by flooding. At such times they may need to boil their water or add chlorine to it to make it drinkable or for domestic use. Government provides motorised boreholes. This serves as replacement to pipe-borne-water.

“Government also paid counterpart fund through the sustainable development goal on clean and hygienic water under which some wells were dug in some communities.

“Through the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), at least two health facilities across local government areas in the state were overhauled to boost health care system. This is done under the State Health Insurance Scheme (SHIS). Under the scheme, each beneficiary is required to pay the sum of N7,500 per year”.