Water, Health Ministries Sign MOU …Outline Responsibilities Towards Ending Open Defecation

…As FG Reiterates More Collaborative Efforts

From Ameh Ochojila, Abuja

The Water Resources Minister, Engr. Suleiman Adamu and his counterpart in the Federal Ministry of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, on Monday, signed a memorandum of understanding, MOU, outlining their specific responsibilities and roles toward ending open defecation in the country.

Signing the MOU in Abuja, the Minister of water resources, Engr. Adamu, said there was an urgent need to collectively change the ugly narrative of the growing mortality rate arising from Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) issues.

Adamu expressed hope that the inititiative for collective engagement and collaboration between the ministries, when sustained, would improve access to WASH services in the country.

“The issues of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) are crosscutting issues that impact on different sectors including the health, education and as well as economy, among others”, said the minister.

Adamu explained that the Health WASH Programme is designed to identify the WASH needs and bridge the WASH service gap across our Health Care Facilities with focus on the Primary Health Care Facilities. Through this initiative, the Federal Government is leading by example in the provision of adequate WASH services to its own managed health facilities.

Dr. Osagie Ehanire, on his part, said the WASH programme has been a major game changer in the health sector, stressing that access to potable water would drastically reduce the unfortunate increasing mortality rate figures arising from poor hygiene services.

According to him, the collaboration was apt as the challenges facing the health sector are interrelated with issues of WASH services and, therefore, called for collaboration to improve the sector.