ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH OFFICERS
ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (EHOAN)
KEBBI STATE CHAPTER
SUBMISSIONS/REQUESTS FORWARDED TO
THE HONOURABLE SPEAKER OF KEBBI STATE HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY
RT. HONOURABLE, ALHAJI SAMA’ILA
ABDULMUMINI KAMBA
FOR CONSIDERATIONS AND
LEGISLATIVE BACKING/SUPPORT
ON
FRIDAY 8TH JANUARY
2016
PREAMBLE
Environmental
Health (EH) is the major aspect of Preventive Medicine which is also one of the
four components of Health Care.
Environmental
Health as a Health Science and un-dispensable Health service, ensures the
Control and Prevention of all aspects, issues, challenges and problems that
affect human Health either directly or indirectly. These includes communicable
and non-communicable diseases, Air quality and safety, Food hygiene and safety,
Water quality and safety, Meat safety (including sales and storage), Pollution
control, Hospital waste management
including control of spread of infectious diseases, Building regulation and
safety, Control and regulation of International Voyage, Waste management
(Solid, Liquid and Gaseous wastes) among others.
The
World Health Organization ,(WHO) has defined Environmental Health as the
control of all aspects of the man’s Physical Environment, which exercise or may
exercise a deleterious effect on the Physical development health or survival.
Environmental
Health had enjoyed tangible presence in the scheme of affairs in Nigeria since
the time of colonial masters. After Independence, Public Health Laws (which are
the legal tool for Environmental Health) were promulgated and made a component
of the Nigerian Constitution and domesticated in different State Laws including
Kebbi State till date. It is noteworthy that Environmental Health had suffered
allot of setbacks since the departure of Colonial masters and was not given its
due privileges which adversely affected the performance of the professionals in
the field and consequently leading to high rate of Morbidity (Sickness and
Diseases) and Mortality (Deaths) from preventable diseases. These challenges
made our Hospitals overloaded with patients and made Health care budgets
cumbersome to the Government and the general public.
RELEVANCE OF ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH
OFFICERS IN KEBBI STATE
Environmental Health
Officers are an essential component of the Health system and other health
related programs.
Presently,
Environmental Health Officers are in employment of the Local Government Service
mostly serving under Primary Health Care Department. Similarly, the Officers
are spread across the MDA’s of the State Government Service such as, Ministry
of Health, Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Lands and Housing and their
agencies
SITUATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH
IN KEBBI STATE
Environmental
Health and its professionals are facing allot of challenges in all
ramifications. Some of the prominent problems are as follows:
1. Shortage of manpower,
especially at the State civil service level. Many professionals have retired
while large number are due to retire between the year 2016-2018, with no middle
cadre officers to replace them.
2. Lack of Waste
management system. This can be confirmed by lack of Waste collection vehicles
across all the 21 LGAs and the state capital.
3. Lack of Designated
final disposal sites of solid wastes across the state.
4. Lack of Sanitary Meat
conveyance vehicles in all the LGA’s of the state.
5. Lack of Sanitation
coordination body, such as Environmental Sanitation Board and Environmental
Health Departments at LGA Level.
6. Non-existence of
Environmental Health unit in our Hospitals to ensure compliance with Clinical
Waste Management procedures and guidelines.
7. In-effective and
partial School Health program. The scenario at Kanta College Argungu is a
yardstick.
8. Lack of political
will to preventive health services by previous administrations and shift of
health care focus to curative services.
PROSPECTS OF ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH
TO THE STATE GOVERNMENT
Environmental
Health has allot of potentials of being a Job creator, Revenue generator and
Impact maker especially in change agenda
of the present administration.
Some
of the Environmental Health driven areas that can be exploited are as follows:
1. Establishment of Composting
centers, at least one per Emirate/Senatorial zone. This will address the issue
of heaps of refuse spread in our major towns and Villages, Produce organic
manure to be sold to farmers and create jobs.
2. Review and
enforcement of Health permit charges for commercial premises and industries.
PRAYERS/REQUESTS FOR LEGISLATIVE
SUPPORT
The
Kebbi State House of Assembly may make Acts, and other Legislative backups on
the following:
1. Review existing
obsolete Environmental/Public Health laws to make them modern and sound and
make an Environmental Health Act for the State.
2. Make an Act for the
Creation of Environmental Sanitation Board/Agency. This will address 85% of
administrative inefficiencies on Sanitation matters.
3. Facilitate the
establishment/creation of Environmental Health Department at LGA level. The
Department is already existing at State level. Also many States in the
Federation are having Environmental Health Department in their LGAs.
4. Enforcement of the
provision of Waste Collection Vans and Meat conveyance vehicles by the LGAs
5. Making an Act for the
Emergency recruitment of Environmental Health Officers to fill the huge
vacancies created by the Death and retirement of serving officers.
6. Enforcement of
“National Injection safety and Health Care Waste management” policy (2007) in
all health Institutions. This will ensure creation of E.H. Department and
ensure effective Clinical waste management.
7. Review School Health
service policy and make an Act to that effect that will ensure recruitment and deployment
of Environmental Health Officers to all Secondary Schools for effective disease
prevention and control.
8. Facilitate the
creation of Composting and waste recycling centers across the state for its
overall benefits as mentioned above.
