In 2017, World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, “Safe water, sanitation, and hygiene at home should not be a privilege of only those who are rich or live in urban centres. These are some of the basic requirements for human health, and all countries have a responsibility to ensure that everyone can access them.”
However, do you know that an estimated 100 million Nigerians lack basic sanitation facilities, and 63 million people do not have access to improved sources of drinking water?
Water is life, as it is the number one source of nutrition. A human being can survive three weeks without food, but can’t survive 3 to 4 days without water. The human body is made of 60% water, and this is a clear indication of the importance of water.
Typhoid and Cholera are some of the numerous water-related diseases that will occur if people do not have access to safe and clean drinking water. Clean water is not only essential to remain safe from disease but a necessity to maintain good health.
Yet, it is alarming that millions of Nigerians do not have access to clean water. Getting clean water at home is a privilege that most communities may not particularly pay attention to, as this is not the case for the underprivileged communities in Nigeria.
There are many communities that do not have access to clean water fit for human consumption, their main source of water could be a little stream. In most cases, this source of water is used by everyone in the community to cook, bathe, wash, and because the source of water has multiple purposes, it is likely to get contaminated, and as there is no other source of drinking water, they consume it too.
Women and children living in urban slums are major victims, and therefore stand the risk of acquiring numerous water-related diseases. As part of HACEY’s dedication to improving the lives of women and girls in Africa, her clean water project has reached out to several women and girls in Nigeria by providing them with clean and safe drinking water and also trained them on proper sanitation and hygiene ethics.
In the last 3 years, the Clean Water Initiative project by HACEY Health Initiative has provided safe water for rural and underserved communities ensuring everyone especially women and children have access to clean water sources, adequate sanitation and hygiene awareness to underserved communities in Imo, Delta, and Ondo states in Nigeria.
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Written by Tomiyin Ayibiowu.
