Delta Women Newsletter: Issue 11

8/13/2019 Delta Women Newsletter: Issue 11

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ditor In Chiefsie Ijorogu Reedanaging Editor Coordinatorrthi Jayakumar

ontributorsbiomachi Madukomasanne K

emi Adeyeleavid Akin-Williamsesignerrthi Jayakumar

By: Susanne K

r the average urban Australian (like myself) it isonceivable that a lack of safe water and

nitation remains one of the worlds most urgentalth issues. Indeed, it has been predicted thatb-Saharan Africa is the only region likely to missllennium Development Goal (MDG) targets onboth safe water and basic sanitation.

Many Africans are 30 minutes or more walk fromdecent water and/or a basic toilet and thesedeprivations are too often experienced more bywomen and children. Kofi Annan, former UnitedNations Secretary-General, captured the powerfulhealth impacts of water well when he said, We shall not finally defeat AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria,or any of the other infectious diseases that plaguethe developing world until we have also won the

battle for safe drinking water, sanitation and basichealth care. And the impacts of poor hygieneand sanitation do not stop with health. Access tosafe and dignified toilet facilities are said tostrongly influence girl's and women's decisionsabout whether or not to continue with theireducation; and the time it can take for a womanto reach and return home with water for herfamily is time not spent learning or earning. Thebenefits of grass roots education and theprovision of decent sanitation and water towomen and children are therefore boundless.

Karil Kochenderfer, Principal at LINKAGES, argues that solutions must be more than short-termreactive, crisis responses and the changing ofhealth behaviors at community level is at least asimportant as strategic vision, manpower, focus,expertise and organizational management .

Health, safety and hygiene and theEnvironment

www.deltawomen.org [email protected] 1

November
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it is the commitment and leadership ofthe government accompanied by thecollective follow-through of all parties toachieve. It takes a village not acorporation, nor individual citizens nor

community groups alone. It is sharedvalues rooted and shared withincommunities. The challenge is to apply theresources of these collectiveconstituencies and those brought in fromoutside in a thoughtful and sustained

manner .

WHO has recognised the importance ofmulti-sectoral involvement for advancinghealth and related outcomes with itsWater, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH)Project.

And the One Million Initiative, acollaboration between The Netherlands

and UNICEF, aims to provide better qualitywater in Mozambique (and other nations)by drilling thousands of new boreholesfitted with hand pumps. This programbuilds upon the aspirational MDGs, whichinitially prioritized water supplyindependently of water quality, andchampions social mobilization for safe

sanitation and hygiene behaviour changethrough the Community Approach to TotalSanitation (CATS). Communityparticipation and education as well assustainability and decentralized capacitydevelopment are valued as highly asinfrastructure and high level principals andcollaboration.

Environmental Sanitation In Nigeria

Kemi Adeyele

The link between sanitation and health cannot be overemphasized; according to Princewill, "There cannot be a healthy nation without healthy environment" (2011).Majority of the diseases that cause the high mortality rate in our country; especiallyamong women and children are direct causes of poor environmental sanitation. It isalso important to note that the ignoranceof the people to simple sanitary practice has also contributed greatly to the poor environmental sanitation in Nigeria.

The Federal Government of Nigeria is wellaware that good sanitation improves the health of the populace and have since beenworking on different policies that haseither worked or failed.

During the pre-independence era (19001960), several legislative controls were putin place to address the problem of Environmental Sanitation. Among these were:i) Cantonment Proclamation of 1904 onthe Layout and Sanitation of GRA;ii) Public Health Act of 1909 on

Environmental Sanitation;iii) Township Ordinance No. 29 of 1917 onSanitation and EnvironmentalManagement;

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vironmental sanitation started becomina big issue in 1983 owing to the rapid groh of population. And then in 1985 envirmental sanitation was chosen to be theth phase of the policy War against Indis

pline(WAI) . This was launched in Kano o29 th of July 1985 by the then Chief of Staf Major General Idiagbon. This policy re-induced house to house inspection. He wt ahead to announce a one million naira

ward for the cleanest state.

orks in all the state capitals were intensif

d and every dung hill was cleared, gutterwere cleaned up and even though this dit yield much due to the review of policias a new government took over. But it

arked the beginning of the once a monthvironmental sanitation observed byost state of the federation till today.

this point, much concern is drawn tow effective this exercise has been.ience has so far helped with findingedical solutions to most of themmunicable diseases caused by poornitation but without addressing the rootuse these scientific solutions will notovide a lasting solution.

Healthcare Availability and Accessibility inNigeria

Obiomachi MadukomaNigeria has over 34,000 healthcare

facilities all over the country. About one-third of these facilities are privatelyowned, while the rest are owned andoperated by the government. As of 2011,there were 30098 registered primaryhealthcare facilities in the country, almost4000 secondary facilities and 83 tertiaryfacilities. Primary healthcare centres arelargely considered the first port of entry inthe healthcare system, however, we findmany people utilizing secondaryhealthcare facilities for services that arewell within the scope of practice ofprimary healthcare workers, and should beeasily obtained in a primary health clinic at

very little cost.

At times, the wide assumption is thatprimary health centres are for the ruralpeople in the village, and other times, theproblem is that even those services thatshould be provided by health centres areunavailable, staff to patient ratio is grosslyinadequate to meet the needs in thecommunity, and even services that can beaccessed quite inexpensively end upcosting the members of the communitymore than they can afford at the giventime; even when these services have beenpromised free of charge by th

government.



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Patients are instead directed to privateclinics supplied by the same healthcareworkers in the government clinics.

Healthcare in Nigeria is fraught withnumerous issues. Some issues are a resultof an entrenched apathy due to years ofneglect and mismanagement. Some issuesare a result of misinformation or lack ofinformation on the part of members of thecommunity. To repair the system andsustain a healthy healthcare environment,health must be seen as a factor of manyother spheres of life including security,finance, education, etc.

The is also the need for government-community partnerships in implementinghealthcare schemes, as the members ofthe community can feel a sense ofownership and responsibility for theprojects in their community.


n article in the Vanguard Newspaperug 3, 2013), lauded Delta State foring one of the most health conscioustes in the Federation. According to thisicle, Delta State was the first toroduce the and successfully implement

e free maternal health care and freeral scheme. The free rural scheme wasensure that health care delivery (men,

aterials and accessories) are movedom one rural area to another . Needless

say, this is a very progressive exerciseat has benefitted many across the state.owever, a sad reality has emerged in

cent years, one that threatens greatorts made by the government. Anothericle in The Africa Report tells the storya man who rushed his wife to the

spital as she was in labour. Uponival, she needed a caesarian section,d since the free maternal healthcareheme was already in place, Mr Okomika

t all was well. Sadly, due to his inabilityraise the money for blood transfusion,d upon the insistence of the nurse whod him to go ask the governor to donate

e blood for his wife since he wassisting the service should have beene, his wife died, in the presence of theee scheme . There have also been

ports of healthcare workers tellingtients that drugs were not available,en after drugs have been madeailable by the government throughvolving drug schemes.


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Though, Government is making effortsovertime to prevent effects of diseases andpromote good health, safety and hygiene,these efforts have not achieved a lot of thedesired outcomes. To increase positiveoutcomes of such efforts, the government

needs to partner not only with aidorganizations, but more so with communityleaders and members because suchcollaborations can foster more accountabilityand community members feel ownership of

these efforts.

In many cases, women and/ or mothers takeup the primary responsibility of training

children in good health, safety and hygienepractices. In many communities, fathers arenot often, if at all, involved in this aspect of achilds upbringing. Mothers will wake up in themorning, bathe us, brush us and kit us forschool. After school, we return home tomothers who continue from where theystopped in the morning. Fathers are usuallyworking outside the home to bring home theproverbial bacon, and as such leave it to thewomen. Even in homes where both parentswork outside the home, the woman is stilltraditionally considered the primary caretakerfor the children, regardless of her

responsibilities outside the home.

Today, women empowerment has brought

about improvement in the lives of ourmothers. In addition to helping women seethemselves as equal members of the societywhose opinions and input have as much valueas mens, they are empowered to be moreproactive and better equipped to supporttheir families.


By David Akin-Williamsfety is necessary in all aspects of the living;evention, protection, maintenance,anliness, caution, advice, consultation,

es, principles and guidelines etc. All these overall concepts of safety wherever we

ay find ourselves. By adopting healthyactices, we are more likely to survive andcome more productive individuals, ando are more able to teach others to do

me. Health is wealth! If you have a soundalth, you can go a long way in achievingur aspirations, hopes, and desires. Weed a strong healthy nation and we needr communities sensitized to health issues.e have numerous diseases and ailmentse Cholera, Pneumonia, Malaria, Ulcers,phoid, Tuberculosis, Polio, Cancer, HIV/Aids. Most of which can be prevented. More

mphasis needs to be laid on individual andmmunity education, instead of

eremphasizing the role of governmentth little attention paid to individual/mmunity accountability and responsibility.rsonal hygiene is very important toanliness and sanitation. The solution to

any problems in our communities todays in the hand of most community leadersd elders.

agine a long street without any drainagestem in place. Many communities withnitary deficiencies suffer from nefariouseases and these diseases are notrticularly endemic to only fewmmunities in the country. The commonnominator in the prevalence of theseeases is the absence of good sanitationd a well-organized public health system.

Women, Health, Safety And Hygiene


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OKUIJOROGU SCHOOL

The school at Okuijorogu that Delta Women has helped to open is on its way tobeing completed. The construction process has begun officially!

DELTA WOMEN, HONOUREDDelta Women's volunteers were honoured this year by the UN Online

Volunteering System with an award for being the Volunteers of the year.With this, Delta Women has won the award three years in a row!

Some photos from the event of Isaac Owusu receiving the award are here foryour viewing pleasure!



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THE DELTA WOMEN RADIO SHOW

Delta Women is pleased to announce that it is in the process ofconceptualising a radio program. To be aired every Monday at 11.45 AM,beginning January, these programs are for the purpose of empowermentand enlightenment. We are calling on the public to offer suggestions of

topics and subjects to focus each episode, so as to benefit our targetaudience of mid-level to rural women and youth.

WELCOME, NEW VOLUNTEERS!

Delta Women welcomes 10 new volunteers, who join our team this monthto work on our various projects.

Documents

Delta Women Newsletter: Issue 11