Kano State Governor, Dr. Abdullahi
Umar Ganduje has appealed to people in the state to give more priority to
personal and domestic hygiene to prevent illnesses, epidemics and deformity.
He made the remark during an
occasion to mark the Global Handwashing Day, which coincided with the flag off
of the fourth round of National Immunization Exercise, at the palace of the
district of Head of Rano, headquarters Rano Local Government Area.
Global Hand washing Day (GHD) is a
global advocacy day dedicated to increasing awareness and understanding about
the importance of hand washing with soap as an effective and affordable way to
prevent diseases and save lives.
The campaign was initiated to reduce
childhood mortality rates related respiratory and diarrheal diseases by
introducing simple behavioral changes - hand washing with soap. Public health
experts say this simple, accessible action can reduce the rate of morality from
these diseases by almost 50 per cent.
Governor Ganduje explained washing
of hand wish soap before and after taking meals as well as before and after
using the toilet is essential part of Islamic etiquette, which if practiced by
the people, would save lives.
He maintained that “germs are
the primary inhabitants of unhygienic places and they are the ones that cause
fatal infectious diseases such as Malaria, and Polio, therefore good
personal hygiene and environmental sanitation are the best ways to make the
society healthy”.
Reflecting on the immunization
exercise, Governor Ganduje said that the routine exercise is planned to achieve
100 percent coverage of anticipated kids between 0 – 5 years, within four
days.
The Governor noted that for two and
half years, there was no single case of Polio recorded in the state, stressing
that the measures taken to achieve that result have been intensified owing to
the detection of fresh cases of the disease in Borno state.
"We have to continue working
very hard so that Polio is completely eradicated in the state and by extension
in Nigeria," the governor stressed, commending traditional rulers in the
state for working hand in hand with health workers towards ensuring that all
eligible children are immunized.
In her remarks, UNICEF Chief Field
Officer, Katsina/Kano Field Office, Mrs. Padmavathi
Yedla charged parents to inculcate the routine of hand washing in their
children as hygienic protection, lamenting that millions of people die annually
due to unhygienic lifestyles.
On Polio immunization, Mrs. Yelda
noted that Kano state is truly committed to Polio eradication, urging the state
government not to relent in the anti-polio war.
On his part, the State Commissioner
of Health, Dr. Kabiru I. Getso explained that enough vaccines have been
procured for the exercise, disclosing that the state government is presently
renovating and upgrading primary health centers and hospitals in the state, to
expand access to quality health care services.
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