The Minister of Water Resources and Sanitation, Prof. Joseph Utsev, has advised Nigerians to imbibe the culture of handwashing with soap to prevent diseases like diarrhoea, cholera, typhoid fever, and pneumonia, especially amongst children.
Prof. Utsev, gave the advice on Monday during a Media Briefing to herald the 2025 Global Handwashing Day commemoration in Abuja.
He explained that the United Nations has designated October 15 of every year for global advocacy to increase awareness on the importance of handwashing with soap as an effective and affordable way to prevent diseases and save lives.
“The day serves as a platform for an international handwashing campaign to motivate and mobilize people globally to improve their handwashing habits by focusing on washing hands at critical points.
“This is an acknowledgment of the importance of handwashing as a tool for ensuring improved hygiene, sanitation, and health.
“This day is expected to catalyze local, national, and global actions that will contribute to instilling the culture of hand washing with soap,” he said.
According to the Minister, the adoption of handwashing practice is estimated to cut deaths from diarrhoea by almost half and deaths from acute respiratory infections by a quarter.
“Handwashing is a ‘first-line’ defense in preventing outbreaks and reducing the toll of pandemics, as can be attested from our last experience with the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic, where it contributed significantly to the reduction of mortalities from the pandemic,” he stressed.
He therefore called for collective action to accelerate access to hygiene services in Nigeria, in line with the Sustainable Development Goal Target 6.2, which is indicated by the availability of handwashing facilities equipped with soap and water on premises.
Utsev said while a high knowledge of handwashing practices estimated at 99% was reported, the nation is still having challenges as a reasonable percentage of the population could not demonstrate proper handwashing with water and soap under running water.
This, he said, is so because a lot of people still battle with handwashing with soap in critical times, especially after defecation, touching animals or sick persons, playing, and before cooking, eating, handling food, or feeding others.
He therefore called for intensified efforts to review existing strategies to strengthen interventions for greater effectiveness and for sustainable results.
The Minister disclosed that the National Task Group on Sanitation (NTGS), which is a coordinating mechanism for sanitation and hygiene at the national level, plans to undertake the following activities for the commemoration of the 2025 Global Handwashing Day:
“Ongoing electronic and social media engagements on Radio, Television, and social media platforms for a period of one month.
“The main commemoration event on Wednesday, 15th October 2025, to be held at the Chelsea Hotel, Central Business Area, Abuja, will bring together diverse Stakeholders such as the Government, CSOs, Development Partners, School Children, Trade Unions, Media, and the Private Sector. The event will feature symbolic handwashing by the dignitaries in attendance.
“Sensitization of Handwashing issues in public places such as Markets, Primary Health Care Facilities, Parks, and Communities.”
He appreciated all the partners who are supporting the initiatives at the national level – Reckitt, Action Against Hunger, Water-Aid, EU, UNICEF, Self Help Africa, and Sightsavers.
He said the event tagged: ‘Be a Handwashing Hero’ challenges everyone – government, development partners, the private sector, communities, and individuals to take responsibility for safeguarding public health through proper handwashing with soap under running water.
“Being a hero does not require extraordinary powers, but consistency, responsibility in saving lives through simple everyday actions,” he noted.
Also speaking, the Minister of Environment, Balarabe Abbas Lawal, said the Federal Government through the Federal Ministry of Environment, Federal Ministry of Water Resources and Sanitation and other relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies and the implementation of the Hope Agenda remain steadfast in implementing Policies and programmes that promotes and improve Water, Sanitation and hygiene (WASH) across States and communities.
Represented by the Assistant Director, Pollution Control and Environmental Health of the Ministry, Aghogho Gbetsere, the Minister urged all stakeholders — government at all levels, NGOs, community leaders, and the media — to intensify efforts to raise awareness, improve access to hygiene facilities, and promote behavioral change that supports hand washing with soap and running water at critical times.
“Together, we can make hand washing a national norm, reducing healthcare burdens and building a healthier future,” he noted.
Earlier in his Welcome Address, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Water Resources and Sanitation, Mr Richard Pheelangwah, noted that all the activities planned to mark the 2025 Global Handwashing Day commemoration are geared towards sensitizing the populace on the adoption of good hygiene practices.
He mentioned that the National Task Group on Sanitation, through the leadership of the Federal Ministry of Water Resources and Sanitation, has been at the forefront of promoting and advocating for increased adoption of hand hygiene to break the faecal-oral route of disease transmission and improve access to hand hygiene for all Nigerians.
According to him, the theme for this year, “Be a Handwashing Hero,” is a call to action to remind everyone that handwashing with soap is not just an individual practice, but a collective responsibility.
“We can all be heroes when we adopt the consistent practice of handwashing with soap, teach and influence others, including, supporting policies and initiatives that expand access to hand hygiene facilities in Nigeria,” he said.
