…Fewer than 400 Environmental Health Officers in Ogun
The Federal Medical Centre (FMC) Idi-Aba, Abeokuta has called for an increase in sanitary conveniences and the deployment of more environmental health officers to curb the spread of viral diseases and outbreaks, such as cholera.
Sanitarian Adebowale Sidiqot, Head of the Environmental Health and Safety Department at FMC Abeokuta, made this appeal during the World Environmental Health Day celebration on Thursday.
Speaking at the event, Adebowale emphasized the importance of proper waste management and segregation in households, hospitals, and communities to prevent disease outbreaks.
“We must ensure that not only in the hospital premises should we maintain healthy hygiene, but everywhere we find ourselves,” she said, stressing the need for health workers to protect themselves and ensure proper waste disposal.
She explained that the use of color-coded waste disposal methods, already in practice within healthcare settings, should be adopted more broadly to enhance public health.
She described how black is used for general waste, yellow for infectious waste, and red for highly infectious waste such as blood and urine samples.
Highlighting the ongoing cholera outbreak affecting several states, including Ogun, Adebowale warned that the spread of such diseases is exacerbated by open defecation and indiscriminate urination.
“If we have enough sanitary conveniences, it will help us to break the chain of cholera and other diseases,” she noted.
Adebowale also raised concerns about the insufficient number of environmental health officers in Ogun State, revealing that the current number is below 400, a figure inadequate for the state’s population.
“I want to plead with our governor to employ more environmental officers because the ratio is very small compared to the population of Ogun State,” she said.
She urged the government to address this shortfall to ensure proper waste management and sanitation practices across communities.
“Our people too shouldn’t forget that whatever we give to the environment is what comes back to us,” Sidiqot added, pointing to recent flooding incidents caused by clogged drainage systems due to improper waste disposal.
The Chairman of the planning committee for the 2024 World Environmental Health Day at FMC Abeokuta, Sanitarian Sheriff Adeyemo, echoed these sentiments, urging the government to prioritize the employment of more environmental health officers.
“The job of environmental health officers cannot be overemphasized. We see ourselves as preventive doctors because we engage in preventive medicine,” Adeyemo said.
