Hand Washing Can Reduce Diarrhea By 30%, Says UNICEF

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has emphasised the need for Nigerians to always embrace hand washing practice, saying it can decrease diarrhea by thirty percent.

The global health organisation stressed that handwashing remained a cornerstone for disease prevention, just as it solicited for robust partnership with the media in promoting the practice.

UNICEF said as a catalyst development partner, the organisation would continue to support global handwashing practice.

UNICEF Chief of Field Office, Enugu, Mrs Juliet Chiluwe, stated this during the media briefing on the 2024 Global Handwashing organised by the organisation in collaboration with Broadcasting Corporation of Abia (BCA) on Tuesday in Enugu.

Chiluwe, who spoke through the Monitoring for Result (MR), and officer in charge OIC, UNICEF Enugu Field Office, Mrs. Maureen Zubie-Okolo, said the organization is “committed to promoting hand hygiene among the communities we serve.”

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In a presentation, the UNICEF WASH specialist, Mrs Rebecca Gabriel stressing the need to have constant hand washing, adding that engaging in the practice regularly was capable of reducing diarrhea by 30%, and could equally reduce acute respiratory infection by 20%.

The specialist noted that 83% of the Nigerian population lack proper handwashing facilities, and as a result, many people are suffering from communicable diseases.

The Acting Managing Director, Enugu State Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency, EN-RUWASSA, Ms Chika Mbah, who was represented by the Technical Adviser TA, WASH EN-RUWASSA, Chioma Dick-Emmanuel, stated that the importance of handwashing cannot be over-emphasised considering that diseases can transmit into people’s bodies through the hands.

She said it is only a healthy people that can be financially productive, adding, “We are here to motivate everyone to embrace the lifesaving practice of handwashing. Together we can make a lasting impact on the society.”

UNICEF’s Communications Officer, Dr. (Mrs) Ijeoma Ogwe, explained that the briefing was convened to provide journalists with facts on handwashing in the country with a bid to shape the right narrative through media reportage.