Our Reporter
A non-governmental organisation, called ‘Each One Aid One Foundation’, says it is committed to the advocacy for best hygiene practices to improve the quality of life of the people of Abia and also keep the environment clean.
Mr Enyinnaya Nwafor, the Founder of the organisation, said this on Tuesday during the inauguration of a Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) campaign held at the Michael Okpara Auditorium, Umuahia.
The event, which was organised by the foundation in collaboration with Abia government, had the theme, “One pair of hands at a time”.
Nwafor, who was represented by Mr Ogbonna Nwanosike, said that poor hygiene had become a menace in the society and a major cause of diseases.
He said that the situation meant that more efforts should be made to facilitate the education and demonstration of life-promoting and disease-preventing practices.
According to him, the WASH campaign is aimed at driving home the need for best hygiene practices among people in order to ameliorate the effect of communicable diseases.
Nwafor said, “Let us all come together and do our bits.The journey of a thousand miles begins with a step and this first step will birth the future that we all look forward to.”
The Wife of the Governor of Abia, Mrs Nkechi Ikpeazu, commended the organisation for its commitment to improve the well-being of the people of Abia.
Represented by the Wife of the Deputy Governor, Mrs Vivian Oko-Chukwu, Ikpeazu said that hygiene, sanitation and access to clean water were essential in preventing communicable diseases.
She said that recent studies show that diarrhoea, respiratory infection as well as eye and skin diseases can be prevented through proper hand-washing hygiene.
Ikpeazu called on the people to take advantage of the programme to learn appropriate hand-washing methods, hygiene and make hand-washing a norm in their homes.
Dr Chinagozi Adindu, the Executive Secretary of Abia State Primary Health Development Agency (ASPHDA), said that government was willing to support the programme and ensure its success in Abia.
Adindu described the programme as a “wake up call” to all health workers in the state, urging the group to educate the public on hygiene practices to reduce morbidity in Abia.
Earlier, Mr Earnest Onyeukwu, the Permanent Secretary of Ministry of Health, commended the organisers for supporting the transformation agenda of Abia government through its programmes.
Onyeukwu called on relevant agencies to drive the campaign by making it their primary duty to promote good hygiene in Abia.
Mrs Ijeoma Anyanwu, an Assistant Director of Nursing Services, Federal Medical Centre, Umuahia, urged the people to practise hand-washing hygiene.
Anyanwu said: “If you want to avoid most Fecal-Oral infections, then adopt hand-washing hygiene, because poor hygiene is one of the leading causes of infection across the world.
“There are two methods of hand-washing hygiene. They are alcohol-based hand rub and hand washing. One can adopt any method to get rid of germs from one’s hands.
“Washing your hands religiously will help to get rid of germs through the friction which the hands make as you rub.”
High-points of the event included drama presentation and demonstration of proper hand-washing methods. (NAN)
