The federal authorities has referred to as for a nationwide hand washing marketing campaign to curb the unfold of infectious ailments, together with cholera and diphtheria, warning that poor hygiene practices proceed to reveal Nigerians to preventable sicknesses and undermine public well being.
The authorities stated the battle in opposition to infectious ailments should lengthen past hospitals and medicines to on a regular basis preventive habits, notably correct hand washing with cleaning soap and clear working water at residence, in faculties, markets, workplaces and healthcare amenities.
Minister of Environment, Balarabe Abbas Lawal, who spoke by the ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Dr. Salisu Aminu Usman, on the 2026 Global Hand-washing Day commemoration in Abuja, described hand hygiene as a public well being crucial requiring collective duty.
The occasion, held in collaboration with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) and Nestlé, had the theme, “Be a Hand-washing Hero.”
Represented by the ministry’s Director of Pollution Control and Environmental Health, Omotunde Adeola, the everlasting secretary stated the federal government had chosen to commemorate the event at Police Day Secondary School to empower pupils to unfold hygiene consciousness past the classroom and affect behaviour of their properties and communities.
The everlasting secretary disclosed {that a} hand washing station had been constructed on the faculty with assist from stakeholders, describing the power as a sensible step in direction of translating hygiene consciousness into on a regular basis motion.
He urged Nigerians to make hand washing a daily apply, notably after utilizing the bathroom, dealing with waste, attending to youngsters and earlier than making ready or consuming meals.
According to him, correct hand washing with cleaning soap and clear water may also help forestall the transmission of infectious ailments, scale back faculty and office absenteeism, and enhance productiveness.
“Clean hands remain our first line of defence,” he stated, stressing that the impression of Global Hand washing Day ought to be measured not by ceremonies however by lasting modifications in folks’s day by day habits.
Usman additionally highlighted the function of market ladies and meals handlers in stopping contamination, noting that hand hygiene was notably necessary for merchants who attend to youngsters and subsequently return to dealing with items on the market.
In his message delivered by the everlasting secretary, Lawal stated Hand-washing remained one of many easiest, most inexpensive and efficient measures for safeguarding people and communities in opposition to disease-causing germs.
He stated the apply may assist scale back the unfold of infections, together with cholera, typhoid fever and different communicable ailments, whereas stressing that public consciousness should be matched with entry to scrub water, sanitation amenities and practical hand washing stations.
The minister warned that the advantages of hygiene campaigns would stay restricted if folks lacked the amenities wanted to practise what they’d been taught.
He referred to as on governments, private-sector organisations, civil society teams, conventional rulers, non secular leaders and growth companions to strengthen collaboration in increasing entry at hand washing amenities and selling sustained behavioural change.
Lawal additionally urged faculties, healthcare centres, markets and workplaces to offer accessible and correctly maintained hand washing stations, including that oldsters, academics and neighborhood leaders should make hygiene training a steady duty.
He additional referred to as for the adoption of inexpensive, water-efficient hand washing applied sciences in communities going through water shortage, noting that hygiene promotion should go hand in hand with accountable water use and conservation.
The minister appealed notably to younger Nigerians to make use of their creativity, digital abilities, faculty golf equipment and social media platforms to advertise correct hand washing amongst their friends, households and communities.
He stated a baby who learns good hygiene practices early may carry these habits into maturity, whereas faculties that prioritise hand washing may assist shield pupils and scale back preventable sicknesses.
Lawal added that sustained hygiene practices wouldn’t solely shield public well being but additionally scale back stress on healthcare amenities, safeguard youngsters’s training and strengthen neighborhood productiveness.
He reaffirmed the Federal Government’s dedication to environmental sanitation and water, sanitation and hygiene programmes, linking the efforts to the Sustainable Development Goals on good well being and well-being, and clear water and sanitation.
The 2026 commemoration bolstered the necessity to transfer from consciousness campaigns to sensible interventions that allow Nigerians to practise correct hand hygiene persistently.
Both authorities officers harassed that hand washing should develop into a day by day behavior reasonably than an exercise noticed solely throughout public campaigns, urging Nigerians to take private duty for safeguarding their well being and that of others.
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