'Poor access to water, sanitation will worsen spread of COVID-19’

Some 2.2 billion people lack safe drinking water and 4.2 billion live without access to adequate sanitation. The lack of access to water and sanitation make the public vulnerable to contracting Covid-19. The public is advised to wash their hands often with soap and maintain a level of hygiene but the greater number of people in our cities and towns without access to water and sanitation makes the future bleak in the face of the ravaging virus. Experts have canvassed the urgent need by the government to provide safe water and hygiene.

 

The devastating effects of climate change have continued to  prevent communities from accessing safe, clean water. We are told that frequent hand washing with soap is a critical first line of defence against the novel Coronavirus.

This is because it inactivates and removes virus particles that may be on our hands. When used properly, soap effectively dissolves the fatty membrane that surrounds the virus particles, causing them to fall apart and be inactivated, experts say.

Water and sanitation are fundamental to fighting the virus, creating a more sustainable future and preserving the health and well-being of millions. With specific treatments or a vaccine not yet available, preventing its spread from person to person is vital to reduce the outbreak’s impact on people’s lives, health, livelihoods and the healthcare systems we all rely on.

However, despite established evidence of the effectiveness of good hygiene practice as the first line of defence in the prevention of infectious diseases, about 60 million people in Nigeria lack access to clean water supply services and 150 million people lack basic hand washing facilities with soap and water according to a report by United Nations WASH programme ( UN Water Sanitation and Health programme).

Unfortunately, most residents of our cities and rural areas cannot easily follow the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention’s advice to stay at home and wash their hands frequently because there is really no water. They buy water for their everyday use and do not think it is necessary to observe the rules, the truth being that most of them cannot afford to do it.

Levels of access to water, sanitation and hygiene services in rural communities are even more worrisome, making this segment of the population far more vulnerable. Worse, climate change is piling pressure on water resources that are already overstretched due to inadequate infrastructure, poor management and insufficient government funding.

Against this backdrop, millions of people are unable to practise frequent handwashing with soap and water, thereby increasing their risk of being susceptible to infectious diseases such as COVID-19.

WaterAid Nigeria, a British NGO, involved in water and sanitation in a statement said they would continue their work by supporting the Federal Ministry of Water Resources, the National Action Plan coordination office and the Clean Nigeria campaign secretariat in the Coronavirus response.

The statement stated that their work would include carrying out series of engagements to advocate for and raise awareness about improved water and sanitation access with hygienic behavioural change as a necessary first step in reducing the spread of the COVID-19 and other infectious diseases.

It said: “Our focus is on key hygienic behaviours including hand washing with soap, respiratory hygiene, social distancing, cleanliness and self-isolation and referral. We will also be supporting the government to scale up water, sanitation and hygiene services such as hand washing facilities in public places and healthcare facilities and using mass media to share important hand washing and hygiene messages.”

A campaigner for access to water and sanitation, Enejeta Oghene, challenged governments at the federal, state and local government levels on re-prioritisation of infrastructure services such as water provision, waste management and adequate housing. He said a situation where the public or most urban poor depended on “mai ruwa’ or water vendor and ‘pure water ‘sachet’ for their daily water need could not be  considered serious about fighting Covid-19. He condemned a situation where people have to trek several kilometres in the rural areas to fetch water as backward and would negate the fight against the deadly virus.

According to him, the middle or upper classes that have domestic hands such as drivers and cooks that come from those satellite areas where there is poor infrastructure are also not safe with such workers as they might get infected by them. He said it was worse for senior public servants who refused to ensure that necessary infrastructure were  put in place as a result of corruption.

He said:” More than any time in the annals of the history of our nation the high and mighty will suffer for their sins, as many have refused to provide the needed infrastructure that would have helped the majority of the people. Water and sanitation in other climes are free or at least in existence but unfortunately, Nigeria with all her abundant natural resources cannot boast of water or sanitation to the majority of the citizens. The urban poor rely on sachet water for drinking and buy jerry cans of water for their daily use. Now there is lock-down,we   are now left to see how they can afford it and how they can purchase enough to wash their hands often to check Covid-19,” he added.

Enejeta suggested that except adequate attention is paid to infrastructure provision, especially water for all, the pandemic will be hard to deal with as the ordinary people on the street cannot afford  to ‘waste water on frequent hand washing and sanitation’.

He maintained that no matter the level of advocacy carried out by the government the urban poor and rural dwellers cannot buy into the programme as their pockets cannot carry them.

Furthermore, he warned on community transmission, noting what a catastrophe it would if satellite towns in Lagos, the Federal Capital Territory, Kano or any other major town in Nigeria have an outbreak and what it would portend for the nation because of the neglect of policy makers to provide the needed infrastructure.