Yobe marks Global Hand Washing Day

The event which was marked on the 15th of October of every month was sponsored by the European Union supported initiative called “Water Supply and Sanitation Sector Reform Programme” (WSSSRP) in collaboration with the Yobe State government which also featured drama presentations by students on the ills of eating food without washing hands. There were […]

The event which was marked on the 15th of October of every month was sponsored by the European Union supported initiative called “Water Supply and Sanitation Sector Reform Programme” (WSSSRP) in collaboration with the Yobe State government which also featured drama presentations by students on the ills of eating food without washing hands.

There were also speeches and goodwill messages from development partners and line ministries including that of health, education, water resources and the state agency for environmental sanitation.

The Yobe State coordinator of WSSRP Mr Kabeer Abass said the guiding principle of marking the day in over 20 countries across five continents was to promote the use of safe water to promote healthy living.

According to him, “the greatest cause of diarrhoea and child mortality is unsafe practices associated with open defecation, contaminated water sources and poor hygiene. It has been documented that about 40% of the people in Yobe State have access to safe sanitation. This is to say that about 60% of the people therefore defecate in the open (bush, around the house, open field and farmland)”.