As community transmission of the Coronavirus rises and lockdown measures are eased in the country, international charity WaterAid has warned that Nigeria will not be able to defeat the COVID-19 pandemic without improved access to clean water and good hygiene practices by citizens.
The Country Director WaterAid Nigeria, Evelyn Mere stated this in Abuja, on Friday, in a statement she issued during a virtual briefing of over 30 journalists from Abuja and other northern parts of the country.
Mere emphasized that clean water, decent sanitation facilities and good hygiene practices are an indispensable element in the fight to prevent the spread of the pandemic and the foundation that underpins almost all of the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly health.
She however, regretted that though the importance and effectiveness of frequent and thorough handwashing with soap and water to halt the spread of COVID-19 and other infectious diseases are well known, many Nigerians remain without these basic life-saving services.
According to her, 60 million Nigerians are without access to basic water supply and 150 million are without access to handwashing facilities with soap and water especially in the rural, small towns and urban slum areas of Nigeria and among the poorest households and vulnerable and marginalised populations irrespective of locations.
The Country Director noted that millions of Nigerians, including about half of all rural dwellers, have to trek long distances and spend more than 30 minutes to get water and usually from unimproved sources.
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She pointed out that in spite of the measures put in place to curtail the spread of COVID-19 in Nigeria, there are no indications that the spread of the disease is abating but rather Nigeria is experiencing massive community transmission of the disease.
“The inadequacy of palliatives provided to address the harsh economic reality of the pandemic, a lack of facilities and supplies for taking the necessary preventive hygiene measures and the apparent lack of compliance with hygiene and social distancing guidelines by many citizens stress the need for Nigeria to have a more holistic and coordinated approach to curtailing the spread of this disease.
“It is critical that interventions to curtail the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic reach everyone, everywhere and we leave no one behind.”
Mere therefore, advocated a water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) response in the face of the Coronavirus pandemic just as she called on the Federal Government to ensure representation from the Federal Ministry of Water Resources in its national response and on the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19.
She said the Federal Government must also take urgent steps to fast-track the implementation of activities laid out in the National WASH Action Plan, leveraging on the Clean Nigeria: Use the Toilet campaign to drive and champion key hygiene behaviours crucial to halting the spread of COVID-19.
“We are also calling on government at all levels to ensure that all isolation, testing and treatment centres have safely managed, reliable and inclusive water, sanitation and hygiene facilities to meet workers and patients’ needs in the fight against the pandemic.
“We also call on donors, bilateral and multilateral donor agencies and the private sector to provide rapid, flexible funding and technical assistance to government-led efforts to promote good hygiene behaviour and build water, sanitation and hygiene systems that will support immediate emergency interventions around COVID-19,” she said.
