Lack of access to WASH services ravages Nigeria’s healthcare facilities.
The Federal Government of Nigeria have complained about the advent of numerous healthcare centers being at risk of diseases as a result of the lack of access to water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services, posed to put the lives of the occupants of the healthcare centers including the doctors, nurses, patients and other caregivers at risk. Dr. Osagie Enihare, the Minister for Health, during the launch of the National Guidelines for Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) services in Healthcare Facilities (HCF) which took place in Abuja, noted that WASH is multi-sectoral and while the Federal Ministry of Health was ensuring WASH services within healthcare facilities, there was a need for continuous collaborations among the sector for attainment of the best global practices.
The Minister further stated that for a coordinated approach to the WASH services and effective utilization of the advantages of the services in Infection, Prevention and Control (IPC) of diseases within healthcare facilities in the country, there was a pivotal need for the wide circulation and dissemination of the guidelines, so as to be duly implemented by stakeholders. Talking about WASH services, he explained that it was a strategy put in place to ensure adequacy in the supply of water, sanitation and hygiene in healthcare facilities to salvage WASH related issues.
WASH system, a mandatory part of the Infection, Prevention and Control.
Safe hygiene, sanitation and water are very important to the health status quo and general well-being of every individual and as such, ensuring safe WASH is not a prerequisite to just health, but the general welfarism of every human being, as it contributes to their general livelihoods. Enihare explained WASH services to be a very important task in the prevention of infections and promotion of healthy living in the healthcare facilities. He noted that the WASH services have been recognized as an effective system for preventing and controlling diseases, especially epidemic-prone ones.
Dr. Osagie Enihare further stated the WASH system, as a mandatory part of the Infection, Prevention and Control (IPC) for the general public and caregivers, must effectively provide a break in the chain of disease transmission, which will in turn lead to a reduced morbidity rate, as well as mortality that may ensue from these infections. Thus, there has been an essentialism of WASH services since the ensuing of Covid-19 and other emerging Viral Hemorrhage Fevers (VHFs) within the functionality of the local, state and federal public health agencies.
HCFs to witness ill-equipped management of HAI with lack of access to WASH.
The WASH strategy is posed to imminently reduce the case management burdens for infectious diseases, as well as helping health decision-makers to efficiently prevent and contain the outbreak of these diseases. Healthcare centers with inefficient access to safe Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) are bound to witness an ill equipped management of Health Associated Infections (HAIs) like Covid-19, leaving even the most vulnerable people to face these epidemics without any form of healthy defense.
Dr. Osagie however asserted that without adequate WASH services in Nigeria’s healthcare facilities, it would be near impossible to achieve safe water, sanitation and hygiene which are sustainable development goals. He also noted the WASH system is an important part of the Clean Water: Use the Toilet Campaign that rallies for safe water and at that, healthcare facilities in both rural and urban environments must have functioning toilet facilities, for the attainment of the Open Defecation Free (ODF).
National Guideline to ensure WASH improvement among HCFs.
Also, Mamman Mamouda, the Permanent Secretary explained that the enactment of the national guidelines, as conceived by the Federal Ministry of Health in 2019, in collaboration with other technical committees in the WASH sector like NCDC, UNICEF, and WHO, was one of the Federal Government’s means of ensuring an improvement in WASH services among the healthcare facilities in Nigeria, after the President in 2018, declared a State of Emergency in the WASH sector. He stated that although there was an existence of hygiene and sanitation document, there was no comprehensive general guideline to ensure the provision of WASH services in these healthcare facilities.
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I think wash service in the health sector is really important and every health center should have access to it because it will really safe lots of life.
Nigeria health care centres needs good hygiene for the workers in all the centers to be safe and protected from diseases and sicknesses,kudos to NGO coming together and more enlightment program should be put in place.0
Wash service is really important in health sectors prevent disease and other things and provision of wash service should be provide in health care and those have access to it
I don’t understand how health centers will be short of basic apparatus or equipment in the center. We should really invest in our health centers if not we will be exposed to diseases and we won’t be able to take good care of ourselves.
Ensuring washing of hand services within healthcare facilities is very important. It will help to prevent some disease through hand shake or hand touch
It’s no new news that Nigerian health centers have poor hygiene system, this is one thing they need to work on this, so people coming to the hospital won’t end up having g extra heath issues.
WASH is a technique implemented to guarantee enough water, sanitation, and hygiene supplies in healthcare institutions to resolve WASH-related problems.
Health care centers needs to take the WASH services very important and adopt it, as it contributes more to there own safety and that of patients there.
ensuring safe WASH is not only a requirement for everyone’s health but also for their general welfare because it supports their daily lives.
It is so ironical that the place where we receive healthcare services could later be the hive of all kinds of infectious diseases due to the absence of WASH service. I am very sure that the money allocated for such must have been corned by a mischievous individuals.
It is so pathetic that our health care centers might soon become the epicenter to all kinds of diseases risking the lives of the health care givers and as many patients that came with one ailment or the other due the lack of WASH in these centers. Government needs to brace up and do the needful not to the lives of our health care givers in danger.
Are health care centers not supposed to be relatively health conscious? Lack of wash in these centers would put lives of health care providers and patient at risk. I mean they should know better. Government should do the needful
It is not acceptable for healthcare facilities to put patients at danger of contracting infections because of a lack of access to water, sanitation, and hygiene services.
Health care centers needs to take the WASH services very important
Making sure washing of hand services with the healthcare facilities is good. It will help to prevent some disease through hand shake or hand touch.
When discussing WASH services, it is important to note that it was a plan that was put into place to assure adequate supplies of water, sanitation, and hygiene.
The provision of WASH services will be a very significant role in the fight against diseases and the promotion of healthy living that will take place within healthcare facilities.
The provision of WASH services is widely acknowledged as an efficient method for avoiding and managing infections, particularly those with the potential to become epidemics.
It is anticipated that the WASH strategy will imminently minimise the case management burdens associated with infectious diseases, and this will be of great assistance to the health system.
For the purpose of achieving the Open Defecation Free (ODF) status, healthcare establishments in both rural and urban settings are required to provide toilet facilities that are in working order.
WASH is not only a precondition for health, but also for the overall welfare of every human being because it contributes to their general way of life.
As a result, the spread of disease will be interrupted, and the number of people infected and ultimately killed will drop.
The government seriously needs to help our health sector financially and every other way they can, so they will be able to handle diseases better.