With the recent outbreak of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) in Nigeria, everyone has been taking precautionary measures to stay healthy and free from the deadly disease.To some observers, an Ebola infection is a distant threat, while others insist that necessary measures ought to be put in place to protect people from contracting the disease.Ever since Patrick Sawyer, a Liberian diplomat, brought the disease into the country on July 20, the consciousness of most Nigerians has been awakened to the importance of personal hygiene and environmental hygiene.As a protective measure, some people now avoid handshakes for fear of contracting the disease, while others have spent a lot of money on buying hand sanitisers -- products that were little known previously.However, experts insist that a major aspect of efforts to prevent the virus from further spread entails the adoption of proper hygiene and good sanitation.They say that the display of good hygienic practices in everyday living plays an important role in promoting healthy lifestyles and curbing the multiplication of diseases.Mr David Akuta, the Programme Manager, Society for Water and Sanitation, said that the use of hand sanitiser was just a stop-gap measure, insisting that hand washing with soap and water was the best approach to personal hygiene.'Since water is not always at our disposal, one could use hand sanitisers; but the best advice is to use soap and water as soon as possible.'Hand sanitisers kill germs and bacteria but Ebola is a virus which could be killed by thorough hand washing with soap under running water.'Fifty per cent of the hospital beds would be free if Nigerians adopt hand washing as a daily lifestyle and jettison the erroneous belief that 'Dirti (dirt) no dey kill African man,'' he added.Mr Dominic Abonyi, the Head of Registration Ethics and Standard Enforcement, Environmental Health Officers' Registration Council of Nigeria (EHORECON), said that the global Hand Washing Day is celebrated every year across the world on October 15.He stressed that the Hand Washing Day was instituted to create global awareness on the importance of hand washing, while promoting the adoption of the practice.Abonyi said the council was currently sensitising Nigerians, particularly those living in the rural areas, to the importance of hand washing, while urging them to cultivate proper waste disposal habits.He, however, said that the importance of environmental hygiene could never be over-emphasised, as it could aid efforts to check the outbreak of any disease or epidemic.The sanitation officer underscored the need to manage environmental hygiene well, so as to frustrate anything that could contaminate the environment.He, however, said that the council had carried out several training for environmental health officers on how to educate and mobilise the citizens to put in place proper sanitary conditions in their homes and environments.Abonyi said that the council had also trained environmental health workers on how to treat hospital effluent (wastes) before disposal.'Hospital wastes should be isolated because it could be very dangerous if contaminated needles, face masks, gloves and other hospital equipment, which are thrown in the bins, mix up with the environment without being treated.'Scavengers could go to waste dumps to pick some valuable items and thereby get infected. Animals like fruit bats, goats and other domestic animals could also go there and feed on some of the remains.'When animals like goats take in the infected remains, there could be another disease outbreak when the meat of such infected animals is consumed,'' Abonyi said.Nevertheless, the outbreak of the Ebola disease in Nigeria has reawakened the consciousness of most citizens as to the importance of regular hand washing, which many people have hitherto neglected.Hand sanitisers are now a common sight across the country, as many Nigerians now carry them around ever since the outbreak of the disease.Even in banking halls and other public places, bottles of hand sanitiser are placed on counters and other strategic places for the use of employees and customers.'Since this Ebola issue started, I go everywhere with my hand sanitiser because I learnt that once you touch anything or anybody and you rub it on your palms, it would prevent you from contracting the ailment,'' Patience Omorede, a businesswoman said.'I do not want to take any chances at all because this Ebola thing is very deadly.'Now, I am very conscious of whom I touch or go close to and it would take me nothing to rub the sanitiser on my hands; so, I carry it everywhere I go,'' Samuel Owoyemi, a student of Nasarawa State University, Keffi, said.The growing acceptance of hand sanitisers in the country has somewhat affected the price and availability of the item.Joy Udi, a sales girl at Total Trust Supermarket, Karu, said that business had been quite good with regard to the sale of hand sanitisers, with over 400 bottles sold each day.'Formerly, we were selling a 50ml. bottle of hand sanitiser for N300 but with the increase in demand, it now goes for N700. However, it is not our fault because the wholesale price of the product has also increased.'Business has been very good; we hope that after the end of the Ebola crisis, people will continue to use hand sanitiser because it is very effective,'' she added.Nevertheless, medical practitioners underscore the need for all Nigerians to be involved in efforts to tackle the Ebola crisis.Dr Lamidi Adebayo, a medical doctor in Kelina Hospital, Abuja, stressed the need to promote personal hygiene as part of efforts toward living healthy lifestyles.He emphasised that people should adopt hand washing and other hygienic practices, while keeping their immediate surroundings clean.'If a food vendor, who is an acute carrier of salmonella typhi (the bacteria that causes typhoid), goes to the toilet without washing his hands and serves customers, the food could get contaminated.'This singular act of indiscipline could cause hundreds of his customers on that day to get infected with typhoid.'The same applies to someone who is a carrier of any other disease that could be transmitted through body fluids.'Before, we could touch a patient with our bare hands when doing minor checks but now, every case is treated as a risk case and no matter how trivial, we would use disposable gloves.'Our hospital has also educated our cleaners on how to take extra precautions while doing their jobs such as changing bed linen and every other aspect of cleaning,'' Adebayo said.Observers, nonetheless, note that prior to the Ebola crisis, people could not pass through the ever-busy Wuse Market in Abuja, without being harassed and dragged by traders seeking patronage.They add that nowadays, traders in the market no longer touch customers but solicit patronage only via verbal expressions.Chinedu Okpara, who deals in shoes in the market, said that he no longer held or dragged anybody to come to his shop because no one could easily recognise someone who was afflicted with the virus.'In the past, we used to run after customers, holding or pulling them; but since we heard of this Ebola, we have stopped that habit because we have been told that one could contract the disease by merely touching an infected person,'' he said.Buttressing Okpara's argument, Mabel Omede, a regular customer at the market, said that the outbreak of Ebola virus had somewhat taught the traders about how to be more civil in their interactions with customers.'Before now, when you come to this market, sellers would be practically dragging you up and down just to seek your attention. I almost fought with one of them on an occasion.'Now, I can walk freely in the market without being harassed. I hope it continues like this because this is how it is supposed to be in every civilised society,'' Omede said.All the same, observers pray that the disease will soon be a thing of the past, so that normal life can resume in the country.They, nonetheless, urge the citizens to sustain the current trend of proper hygiene practices, while stressing the need for the government to put in place proactive disease control strategies.'All in all, we should all strive to promote sound personal hygiene and environmental sanitation in our communities,'' they add.
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