78m Nigerian Children Risk Water-related Diseases

United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has disclosed that 78 million Nigerian children are at the highest risk of contracting water-related diseases given the water crisis in the country.

The water-related threats range from inadequate water and sanitation, hygiene related diseases and climate hazards.

To this end, the UN body pleaded with the Nigerian Government to increase investments in the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) sector to curtail preventable diseases.

The UNICEF Nigeria Chief of WASH, Dr Jane Bevan, said on Monday that one-third of the children lacked access to at least basic water at home, while two-thirds do not have basic sanitation services.

He frowned that hand hygiene is limited, as three-quarters of children are unable to wash their hands due to lack of water and soap at home.

Bevan lamented that Nigeria is one of the 10 countries with the heaviest burden of child deaths from diseases caused by inadequate WASH such as diarrhoeal.

“Nigeria also ranks second out of 163 countries globally with the highest risk of exposure to climate and environmental threats.

“Groundwater levels are also dropping, requiring some communities to dig wells twice as deep as just a decade ago.

“At the same time, rainfall has become more erratic and intense, leading to floods that contaminate scarce water supplies”. he added.

The UNICEF boss hinted that investments from global climate financing would strengthen climate resilience in the WASH sector and communities.

This, he said would increase effective and accountable systems, coordination and capacities to provide water and sanitation services, as well as implement the UN-Water SDG six Global Acceleration Framework.

With the current pace, Bevan stated that it would take Nigeria 16 years to achieve access to safe water for all, adding that the time to take decisive step is now.

He pointed out that investing in climate-resilient water, sanitation and hygiene services amount to not only protecting the children’s health, but also guaranteeing a sustainable future for the unborn generations.

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