On Friday, 1st of December 2017, Aimcare NG hosted a hygiene symposium for students in public schools in Lagos State. The symposium forms an integral part of the The Hygiene For Every Child Campaign. It held at the Adeyemi Bero Hall, Alausa and had in attendance, 200 students from selected secondary schools in Lagos.
The Hygiene For Every Child Campaign is an initiative established to promote personal hygiene and initiate behavioral change through engaging in hygiene education and outreaches in primary and secondary schools, as well as communities. Over the last 12 months, Aimcare NG has undertaken health/hygiene advocacies, symposiums and outreaches in schools and communities across Nigeria indirectly reaching over 500,000 people through social media impressions and electronic media as well as directly teaching over 3000 young people how to live disease-free lives by adhering to oral, menstrual and general hygiene practices. In these symposiums, free sanitary products like pads, soaps and toothbrushes are given to the attendants for free.
At the The Hygiene For Every Child Campaign held on the 1st of December, Dr Erinosho, the Lagos State Head of Save 1 Million Lives Initiative, was the Lead Facilitator. Amongst many things, she admonished the students on the importance of proper personal hygiene, and extensively covered oral hygiene, menstrual hygiene and hand washing and how basic hygiene practices can save millions of lives and avoid needless deaths globally.
It is a sad reality that about 2.4 billion people do not have access to clean sanitation and adequate hygiene, according to World Health Organization.
In Nigeria alone, around 150,000 children under the age of five in Nigeria die yearly from diarrhoea diseases caused by the nation’s poor levels of access to water, sanitation and hygiene according to UNICEF. Across the globe, good hygiene practices are among the most effective ways to prevent these diseases. Research has shown that hand-washing with soap can reduce diarrheal disease by one-half. Meaning that thousands of lives could be saved if people are given ongoing access to hygiene products and hygiene education.
It is amazing how something as basic as a bar of soap or a sanitary-pad can have a huge impact on how individuals feel about themselves and, consequently, what they can achieve.
Speaking at the event, the Founder of Hygiene for Every Child Campaign and the Lead Partner of Aimcare NG, Mr MmekidMfon Umanah maintained that Sustained Hygiene Behavioural Change programming is fundamental to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030 and that without good hygiene practices the benefits of other poverty-reduction strategies will be undermined and human dignity will be compromised.
He mentioned that the Campaign’s aim is to curb hygiene-related diseases/reproductive tract infections, mitigate absenteeism in schools and banish low self-confidence among young women in Nigeria.
Participants were given free sanitary pads, bar soaps and other gift items made available by sponsors.
The event was supported by Promasidor Nigeria Limited, Nestle Nigeria PLC and Access Bank. Other key partners were the Lagos Ministry of Education and Lagos Ministry of Health Education. YNaija and The Montage Hub were the official media partners.
The Hygiene for Every Child Campaign is powered by Aimcare NG, an award-winning and eco-friendly youth led social enterprise providing sustainable solutions on water, sanitation and hygiene regardless of location and economic status.
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