..Say’s 50% home preventable diseases in kaduna hospitals are due to poor sanitation
..To introduce house to house sanitation, sanction defaulters
By Gabriel Udeh, Kaduna
About fifty percent of preventable diseases in kaduna State are due to poor sanitation, the new General Manager Kaduna State Environmental Protection Authority (KEPA), Haj. Maimunatu Abubakar has revealed.
Haj. Abubakar who made the revelation in an interview however said the diseases could be prevented through improved home sanitation and proper introduction of environmental heigene.
The trained Nurse-Midwife and public health Nurse GM also told journalsts that she discovered indiscriminate dumping of refuse in the state few months after resuming the office.
She however expressed happiness that Governor Nasir El-Rufai had already introduced lntegrated Solid Waste Management, saying implementing it would go along way in controlling alot of sanitary activities and turned environmental sanitation situation of the state for better.
According to her, to achieve meaningful progress in tackling waste management and environmental sanitation in the state, traditional leaders would be incorporated into the fold.
She said some serious sanitation issues in distant local government areas could be referred to the traditional leaders to assist the state in addressing them together with KEPA.
“We’re going to sanction people without at least a pit lathering or toilets, open defication, open and improper treatment of well water or boreholes in the state after an aggressive awareness campaign.
The public sanitation planning expert, Haj. Abubakar, lamented that the general complaint of Malaria fever in hospitals all over the state was largely due to poor drainage system, vegetation around most residents among other factors.
She added that KEPA’s house to house sanitation policy with sanitary officers would insist on clean and healthy drainage system and vegetation to avoid mosquito breeding, saying violators will be sanctioned.
On air pollution and dumping of refuse waste by KRPC, breweries and other toxic waste generated companies, she said, KEPA has Officers that have been put in charge would ensure air pollution is managed.
On construction, especially road, it would be controlled henceforth, as permission must be sought and approval given by KEPA before any road construction is embarked upon in any area to reduce its health incidents and dust that are also hazardous to public health.
According to the ex SEMA boss, dropping and evacuation of wastes alongside major roads, and the popular “Babanboller” would no longer be condoned.
The GM said the methods littered streets, roads and causes traffic inflow, saying KEPA will introduce house to house refuse dump evacuation strategy aggressively.
