By Asma’u Ahmad
Federal Ministry of Water Resources is partnering with the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to prevent the outbreak of waterborne disease in Nigeria.
The Deputy Director, Water Quality Control and Sanitation in the ministry, Mrs. Elizabeth Ugoh, told newsmen in Abuja that the collaboration would ensure improved livelihood.
Mrs. Ugoh said such response include the promotion of good hygiene practices, provision of safe drinking water and toilet facilities, to improve the overall living conditions of Nigerians.
She said its partnership with NEMA was specifically targeted at emergencies, especially in Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps, and promotion of overall wellbeing of such persons.
According to her, persons living in the IDPs Camps in the North-East are in continuous need of water and accessible toilets facilities, which should not be ignored.
Mrs. Ugoh said that although inadequate funds was still a challenge, development partners such as UN Children’s Fund and the UN High Commission on Refugees, had been partnering to improve sanitation and hygiene.
She said that access to water and sanitation had reduced incidences of preventable deaths, adding that it was necessary to scale up actionson these needs.
Ugoh said that Water Sanitation Hygiene (WASH) interventions could interrupt diarrhea transmission, and reduce the burden of morbidity and mortality associated with faecal-oral.
The deputy director said Nigeria needed to improve its policies at increasing access to water, sanitation and hygiene.
She urged private individuals and industrialists to take ownership of improving sanitation in their local communities, which she said would reduce the spread of preventable diseases, boost healthy living, and promote a more productive citizenry.
