The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), on Thursday, has said that hundreds of Nigerians dye yearly due to poor sanitation in Nigeria, adding that the nation has been losing over N455 billion annually to the ugly trend.UNICEF representative, Mr Bisi Agberemi, dropped the hint in Abuja at the commemoration of the 2012 National Environmental Sanitation Day organised by the Ministry of Environment, with the theme: “My Environment, My life: Sanitation my Duty.”
According to him, “in addition to the disease burden, Nigeria losses N455 billion annually which is equivalent to 1.3 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), due to poor sanitation as reported by water and sanitation programme of the World Bank”
He added that, “the direct consequence of poor environmental sanitation is high morbidity and mortality rates due to sanitation related diseases such as cholera, diarrhoea, dysentery and typhoid. Children under five are the most vulnerable to the effects of poor sanitation and hygiene in the country.”
He further said that, “in 2011, the weekly Epidemiology Report of the Federal Ministry of health reported 23,366 cases of cholera with 742 deaths in 203 local government areas of 26 states. These deaths could be averted with the implementation of effective and sustainable environmental sanitation interventions with active participation of all relevant stakeholders including the communities,” he said.
In her address, the Minister of Environment, Mrs Hadiza Mailafia, declared that heaps of refuse had continued to pose a serious challenge to Nigerians, stressing that improving environmental sanitation in the nation requires collective effort and strong commitment by all stakeholders.
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