In the spirit of the 2017 Global Handwashing Day, the African Ministers’ Council on Water (AMCOW) has stated that the future of the African continent lies in its hands.

Dr Canisius Kanangire, Executive Secretary of the Abuja-based AMCOW, who made the submission in a statement to commemorate the event observed on Sunday, October 15 2017, pointed out that the organisation considers handwashing as an integral part of its water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) interventions.

“Indeed, the future of Africa is in our hands…lets wash our hands! Happy 2017 Handwashing Day!” he stated.

According to him, in line with AMCOW’s mandate, the Secretariat will continue to work with member states and partners in ensuring improved livelihoods for Africans, while creating the enabling environment for sanitation and hygiene across the continent through the implementation of these commitments.

His words: “October 15 marks yet another Global Handwashing Day, instituted since 2008 to raise awareness about the benefits of handwashing with soap and to spotlight the state of handwashing around the world.

“Handwashing remains one of the most effective measures of avoiding sicknesses and spreading germs to others. Many illnesses and conditions are spread by not washing hands with soap and clean, running water. Pneumonia, a major Acute Respiratory Infection, is the number one cause of mortality among children under five years old, taking the life of an estimated 1.8 million children per year. Diarrhea and pneumonia together account for almost 3.5 million child deaths annually.

“According to World Health Organisation, 42% of this estimate occurs in Africa even as handwashing with soap is estimated to reduce incidents of diarrhea by 30% and respiratory infections by 21% in children under the age of five. Africa has to stand up and ensure every child has access to handwashing tools and services.

“At AMCOW, we consider handwashing as an integral part of our water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) interventions hence the proactive step taken towards the end of the MDGs era in 2015 by African Ministers responsible for sanitation at the 4th AfricaSan Conference in Dakar, Senegal viz the 4^th and 6^th Commitments of the N’gor Declaration which commits African governments to ensuring strong leadership and coordination at all levels to build and sustain governance for sanitation and hygiene across sectors especially water, health, nutrition, education, gender and the environment; and ensure inclusive, safely-managed sanitation services and functional handwashing facilities in public institutions and spaces.”

WaterAid Nigeria has renewed its call for improvements to water, sanitation and hygiene in schools as well as healthcare facilities in the country.

According to the organisation, one-in-three schools around the world do not have regular access to water, basic private toilets, or a way to wash hands with soap and an estimated 443 million school days are lost every year because of water-related illnesses.

It adds that as many as 50% of schools in sub-Saharan Africa are without access to water, pointing out that access to water, sanitation and hygiene at school is also a matter of gender equality, as girls are more likely to miss lessons or to drop out completely once they start menstruating if their school does not have a decent toilet where they can change menstrual cloths in dignity and privacy. One in 10 adolescent girls in Africa miss school during their menstruation and eventually drop out due to a lack of gender-friendly toilet facilities.

WaterAid adds that some 38% of hospitals and clinics in low- and middle-income countries around the world do not have regular access to water, and that even more do not have basic, private toilets and a way to wash hands with soap.

“In sub-Saharan Africa, some 42% of healthcare facilities do not have access to water. In Nigeria, almost a third (29%) of hospitals and clinics in the country do not have access to clean water; the same percentage do not have safe toilets and one in six (16%) do not have anywhere to wash hands with soap, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO) report ‘ Water, sanitation and hygiene in health care facilities: status in low and middle income countries and way forward’.

“This puts patients and healthcare workers at unacceptable risk of infection, including some of the most vulnerable members of society – new mothers and their newborns. One in five deaths of newborn babies in the developing world are caused by infections with a strong link to dirty water, poor sanitation and unhygienic conditions; and Nigeria has one of the largest numbers of neonatal deaths worldwide.”

The organisation stresses that a lack of water and sanitation, combined with poor hygiene, also contributes to the overuse and misuse of antibiotics as, according to it, they are used to stand in for soap and water in infection prevention, resulting in higher levels of anti-microbial resistance.

WaterAid Nigeria Country Director, Dr Halidou Koanda, said: “Clean, plentiful water, good sanitation and good hygiene including handwashing with soap are absolutely essential to effective healthcare, wherever you are in the world. Yet almost a third of hospitals and clinics in Nigeria are without even rudimentary access to water. It is unacceptable that patients and medical workers are exposed to such risk of infection. This Global Handwashing Day, we are calling on governments and donors to take action on this injustice, and on health professionals to join our call to action.

“Good hygiene, and in particular handwashing with soap, have significant impact on the health and wellbeing of the global population. It was one of the ways in which Nigeria fought and won against the deadly Ebola virus; and even though Nigeria is Ebola free now, other diseases such as monkey pox and cholera are threatening public health in the country. These diseases can spread further and faster without sanitation and hygiene practices to block their path and an outbreak in one area can quickly become a city-wide, national or international epidemic.”

Handwashing with soap is also critical for maximising the health benefits of investments in water supply and sanitation infrastructure and combating many health risks, WaterAid contends, adding that out of all water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) interventions, hygiene promotion has proven to be particularly effective in reducing mortality and morbidity from child diarrhoea, and has been identified as the most cost-effective disease control intervention.

“It is important that we promote long-term behaviour change throughout the year and as a crucial part of everyday life beyond just Global Handwashing Day and WaterAid is supporting the Federal Ministry of Water Resources’ year-long hygiene promotion campaign being spearheaded by the National Task Group on Sanitation and aimed at integrating WASH in education and health for improved and holistic outcomes in these areas.

“Through the UN Global Goals for Sustainable Development, world leaders have promised to ensure everyone everywhere has access to safe water and sanitation by 2030. To keep that promise, ensuring water, sanitation and hygiene at every level of health services must be a priority.

“The WHO Action Plan aims to provide these essential services everywhere by 2030, but requires political prioritisation and financing to succeed.”

Nature Uchenna Obiakor, Coordinator, YouthWASH Africa, in this piece to celebrate the 2017 Global Handwashing Day (GHD), writes that the theme for this year’s event is conceptualised to emphasise how handwashing protects health, and offers mankind the opportunity to build a sustainable future

“Our Hands, Our Future” is the theme for the 2017 Global Handwashing Day (GHD) which is celebrated on October 15 every year since 2008 when it was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly. It is a day set aside to promote a global culture of handwashing with soap and raise awareness on the benefits of the practice.

The theme for this year’s event is conceptualised to emphasise how handwashing protects our health, and offers us the opportunity to build a sustainable future. Handwashing with soap before eating and after using the toilet has severally proven to be the best preventive approach to healthy living. It is considered as the most cost effective way to mitigate diseases such as cholera, pneumonia, diarrhea, typhoid fever and can save more lives than any single vaccine or medical intervention. Good handwashing practice also plays a pivotal role in implementing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by contributing to improve well-being and reduce poverty.

According to UNICEF/WHO, almost a third (29%) of hospitals and clinics in Nigeria do not have access to clean water and the same percentage does not have safe toilets. The report also shows that one in six (16%) health care facilities do not have anywhere to wash hands with soap.

A separate study conducted by “WASHWatch” observed that over 60, 000 children below the age of five in Nigeria die from diarrhea diseases caused by the country’s poor levels of access to WASH facilities.

The global status of another document released by WHO in 2015 reported that 15% of patients develop one or more infectious in hospitals. Also, UNICEF in 2010 highlighted that 272 million school days are missed due to diarrhea infection each year.

We must ensure that our children have access to handwashing facilities at school and at home, and teach them good handwashing habits to keep them on track for a healthy future. But, these benefits can only be achieved if handwashing is constantly practiced.

UNICEF is funding the National Task Group on Sanitation to engage YouthWASH in strengthening the capacity of NYSC members to activate and sustain EHCs in schools. In line with this goal, 60 NYSC members, 20 volunteers, 60 Hygiene Education Teachers, and 30 Community Health Education Workers have been trained on hygiene promotion in the six area councils under the FCT.

A symbolic handwashing event is expected to be performed by school children during assembly time in 100 schools across the six area councils. These activities are geared towards taking the campaign beyond the commemoration day and help strengthen the introduction of WASH Friendly School Project as part of our sustainability mechanism to foster hygiene practices in our communities and world at large. The NYSC members are expected to adopt and carry out weekly hygiene and sanitation activities in these schools with the objective of ensuring that these schools take ownership of the process to foster WASH education as well as strengthen school-community relationship.

We have approached the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) office to launch the Adopt a School Project. This initiative is targeted at stakeholders particularly the private sector and donor agencies to help provide WASH facilities as their Cooperate Social Responsibility (CSR) in these schools.

Furthermore, we have received approval to partner with the FCT Area Councils Services Secretariat (ACSS) on grass root mobilization and support for effective citizens engagement. We are also working with the FCT Universal Basic Education Board to ensure the successful implementation of the EHCs in the six area councils across the nation’s capital.

Access to water and hygiene is a right issue, not a privilege or charity as largely perceived especially among the political class that sees it as a campaign tool. There is urgent need to strengthen local government institutions at all levels, as well as harmonise the activities of the different coordinating bodies for maximum productivity.

Promoting handwashing practices doesn’t just mean making sure people have access to hygiene facilities; they must also be utilised because the benefits of handwashing depend on people washing their hands consistently at critical times. Choosing hand washing is choosing health which is important to our future. Good hygiene practices must be a habit which requires choosing to perform them not only on Global Handwashing Day, but on regular basis every day.