A Family and Lifestyle Medicine Physician, Dr Chinasa Gerald, has called for a cultural shift in nation’s hygiene consciousness to avert the contraction and spread of killer diseases among the populace.
Gerald, also a General Physician, made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in commemoration of the World Hand Hygiene Day marked annually on May 5.
He said that more Nigerians particularly young children could be saved from killer diseases caused by germs, through the act of proper hand hygiene.
According to him, research reveals that Nigeria loses 150,000 children yearly to fatal infectious disease due to poor hand hygiene.
The physician said it was imperative that citizens imbibed the habit of regular handwashing to stay healthy, because the hand was a major means of transferring infections into the body system.
Gerald noted that the quality of life of the citizens should be of utmost importance to policy makers and government, calling for programmes and policies to improve hand hygiene practice in the country.
“If Nigeria takes hand-washing serious and Nigerian parents adopt and teach their children the simple act of proper hand-washing, at least 100,000 out of these children will be saved.
“Considering the high risks of diarrhea diseases and infections among Nigeria’s population as a result of poverty, lack of clean water, contaminated food and unhygienic practices, it is of great importance that the country wakes up to these dangers that something radical is done to protect the citizens.
“Being able to successfully lead a clean and hygienic lifestyle through the simple act of hand-washing may make a great difference,” he said.
He, therefore, urged institutions, parents, schools’ management and managers of public places to ensure optimal hygiene practice through regular handwashing to avoid the spread/contraction of infectious diseases.
According to him, there should handwashing facilities at strategic points across all public institutions like schools, hospitals, churches and alike, as a strategy to revive regular handwashing habit, that was more pronounced during the COVID-19 period.
On when and how to wash hand, Gerald advised that the hands should be washed after direct contact with a surface, object or human, using a soap and under a running water.
“It is imperative that every family unit in Nigeria be made aware of the importance of proper handwashing and hygiene practices, and that a simple bar of antibacterial soap like Dettol could save one from expensive hospital visits or worse still, untimely death.
“Prevention, they always say is better than cure.
“As a healthcare worker, after attending to to a patient, wash the hands.
“Hands should be washed before and after eating, after using the restroom, contact with a surface and even after handshake,” Gerald said.
