Report from Environmental Health Registration Council of Nigeria.
The Registrar, Environmental Health Officers Registration Council of Nigeria (EHORECON) Mr. Augustine Ebisike has disclosed that over 70% of the diseases causing mortality rate in Nigeria is environmental health related.
The EHORECON boss who made this assertion while speaking to newsmen over the weekend in Abuja stated that the widely published “Health bill” was only a “Medical bill” ; adding that there was nothing in the bill that supports any other thing other than “Medical bill”.
Mr. Augustine Ebisike posited that it was a sad situation on our part, that there was no legislation on public health which was not the case all over the world. He said that the practice should have been that public health Acts was supposed to be the number one legislation put in place in the country in order to address the numerous environmental health challenges being faced at the moment. While bemoaning a situation where places meant for recreation are being converted to either houses or shops illegally, he said, this would not be tolerated.
On the issue of malaria, the Registrar stated that unless environmental sanitation is restored and vigorously implemented, malaria could not be rolled back. According to him, “We have the data from the Federal Ministry of Health, 1999 to 2013 which showed steady increase in incidence to justify this position.”
The Registrar said, he was particularly sadden when credible and reputable organization such as WHO, UNICEF-Nigeria Office and the Federal Ministry of Health supported the notion that Malaria can be “rolled back” solely through bed nets and by chemotherapy. He revealed that, the only activity being supported by these organisations in the efforts to control the malaria problem is the bed net programme and the partner pharmaceutical companies who have cashed in on the renewed awareness to market anti-malaria drugs from all over the world.
According to Ebisike, lack of regular house to house sanitary inspection was being exploited by the various owners of houses who subsequently erect structures which blocked drainages, erect illegal stores within places they were not supposed to. He alleged that people also illegally block sewage channels and other public drainage channels thereby creating pools of water which breed mosquitoes.
Mr. Augustine Ebisike however, advocated for good housing policy which is supposed to minimise physical and biological hazards in the environment and promote the health of the citizenry. In his words, “housing conditions have a direct bearing on the level of physical, psychological health status of the population and housing inspection.”
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