Follow Us on Google
From Olanrewaju Lawal, Birnin Kebbi
The Director General of National Youths Service Corps(NYSC),Brig. Gen. S Ibrahim has charged the serving Corps members in Kebbi state to continue saving lives of people through environmental sanitation and sustaining of hygienic environment.
Ibrahim stated this while addressing Corps members in Birnin Kebbi during the official flag off of the environmental sanitation exercise of the NYSC in Kebbi state.
“Distinguished guests, ladies and gentleman, it may interest you to know that during the nationwide medical outreaches recently conducted on the platform of the NYSC Health Initiative for Rural Dwellers (HIRD), most of the ailments diagnosed and treated were as a result of poor hygiene.
” They include chronic diarrhoea, dental caries (tooth decay) head/body lice, ringworm, dysentery, typhoid, polio, scabies trachoma, Hepatitis A, and malaria amongst others. Therefore, efforts must be made to save many more lives by empowering the people with adequate information on good grooming and environmental hygiene.
“Accordingly, our sensitization efforts will focus on the following:
Regular environmental sanitation on fortnight basis;Clean food and water intake; Proper disposal of human and animal waste; Protection of food and water from contamination; Good grooming on regular basis; Community policing to enforce clean environment and proper waste disposal; Regular hand wash; and Need to avoid frequent touch of the eyes, nose and mouth to minimize the spread of viruses, bacteria, germs and infections.
“As environmental protection and environmental sanitation have become inseparable for a stable, healthy and sustainable ecosystem, the public will be further educated on:
Decontamination of foods due to exposure; Disinfection of the environment – living rooms, toilets public spaces; Handling of toxic materials; Susceptibility and risky habits; How best to handle bush burning, pollution and waste disposal; and tree planting to support health ecosystem.
“It is heart- warming to note that communities that benefited from the NYSC HIRD medical outreaches have been sharing testimonies of the enormous impact of the programme. I wish to assure Nigerians that we will not rest on our oars as we continue to offer health and other services, including environmental protection. I am particularly hopeful about the prospects of this exercise because with regular sanitation, malaria and other related diseases will be reduced to the barest minimum.
“Let me use this opportunity to once again thank the State Governments, traditional rulers, community leaders and other stakeholders for supporting this noble cause. I must also commend NYSC Staff and Corps members for demonstrating the zeal to contribute towards ensuring a healthy and stable environment. In particular, I appreciate the unrelenting efforts of the Director and Staff of the Community Development Service and Special Projects Department as well as NYSC State Secretariats nationwide to successfully implement this programme. I earnestly look forward to the much anticipated outcomes of the exercise”.
Ibrahim who spoke on the theme of the NYSC , “Clean Environment/Good Hygiene: Panacea for Good Health and Long Life”, said, to achieve the theme, every member of the community will have to be mobilized for participation in the exercise, which will feature sensitization, disease surveillance and report of outbreaks”.
