Group urges media to improve coverage of water, sanitation issues

The group whose objectives are to increase the quality of media coverage of water and sanitation sector and to increase the technical capacity of journalists to report and analyse water and sanitation issues amongst others, noted that water, a part of human right issue, is not receiving adequate attention in the media. Mr Babatope Babalobi, […]

The group whose objectives are to increase the quality of media coverage of water and sanitation sector and to increase the technical capacity of journalists to report and analyse water and sanitation issues amongst others, noted that water, a part of human right issue, is not receiving adequate attention in the media.
Mr Babatope Babalobi, WASH Media National Chairman, said during a one-day high level roundtable on “Working with the Media to improve WASH service delivery in Nigeria,” that the media in the past few years tried in covering the issues of water and sanitation, adding, however, that a lot needed to be done by journalists to bring the issue to the front burner.
The Minister of Health Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu in a goodwill message he sent to the event said water and good sanitation were crucial to life. He called on all hands to be on deck to ensure that Nigerians accessed clean and safe water.
He said the mandate of the federal ministry of health comprised the implementation of a water service charter through enforcement and surveillance as well as setting a national standard for drinking water.
He added: “We are also implementing programmes to prevent diseases caused by poor sanitation, because some poor sanitation practices contribute to the spread of epidemics.”