By Suzan Edeh, Bauchi
WaterAid Nigeria and partners with funding from DP World have trained food and water vendors in Misau local government area of Bauchi state on improved hygiene in commemoration of global handwashing day.
The International Handwashing Day is celebrated on the 15th of October every year to mobilize and motivate people around the world to improve their handwashing habits.Washing hands at critical points with soap and water during the day and after.
The training which was organized by WaterAid and implemented by Women Development Association for Self Sustenance (WODASS) held at the Chartwell Hotel in Misau LGA.
The Programme Manager of WODASS, Magaji Barde spoke on the objective of the training, saying that the training was aimed at sensitizating food and water vendors on the importance of hygiene in order to prevent outbreak of common hygiene-related diseases such as typhoid, Cholera, diarrhea and Hepatitis A due to the contamination of food and water sources.
He said that the training was also aimed at equipping them with the knowledge on how to purify their water sources and maintaining hygiene when selling their food to members of the public, adding that hygiene is important for their businesses as it builds trust, improves their reputation and reduces risk of fines and the shut down of their businesses by authorities.
In his presentation on Environmental Hygiene around Vending areas, the Director of Enforcement and Compliance BASEPA, Muhammad Usman stated that in ensuring hygiene practices, vendors should wash hands with soap before handling food, keep nails clean and short, wear clean clothing and headgear, avoid smoking, stay at home when sick and go for a medical check up every six months.
Regarding Selling points Sanitation, Muhammad said that surfaces were food is sold should be easy to clean, the cleaning of utensils, tables and floors should be regular, clean water for washing hands and utensils should be provided, adding that food remnants, packaging and waste water should be properly disposed.
In another presentation on Clean Water Handling and Storage, another resource person from BASEPA, Haruna Suleiman said that regular handwashing with soap after defecation and before eating food can cut down respiratory infection rates by up to 25 percent and diarrhea diseases by up to 50 percent.
He noted that access to safe drinking water was essential for human health, stressing that proper storage of water was vital to prevent contamination and treating water before consumption can help remove pathogens and contaminants.
Daily Independent reports that at the end of the training, there was a practical demonstration of handwashing with water and soap by the participants.