Cameroonians called to be neat

That filthiness is the cause of diseases and deaths

By Yemti Harry Ndienla

Disease is a term for any condition that impairs the normal functioning of an organism or body. Although plants and animals also contract diseases, by far the most significant disease-related areas of interest are those conditions that afflict human beings. They can be divided into three categories: intrinsic, or coming from within the body;extrinsic, or emerging from outside it; and of unknown origin. Until the twentieth century brought changes in the living standards and health care of industrialized societies, extrinsic diseases were the greater threat; today, however, diseases of intrinsic origin are much more familiar. Among them are stress-related diseases, autoimmune disorders, cancers, hereditary diseases, glandular conditions, and conditions resulting from malnutrition. There are also illnesses, such as Alzheimer's disease, whose causes remain essentially unknown.

Reason why Jean Bernard Sindeu, Cameroon's minister of Water and Energy revently urged Cameroonians to adopt cleanliness as a way of life in order to reduce the current high infant mortality as well as make the country look more attractive and free from killer related diseases. The minister used the occasion of the installation of the executive bureau of the governmental organisation, Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH), to tell Cameroonians that to fight against unhygienic conditions is crucial at this time.
He said the organisation will help government to discard waste and rubbish, make Cameroon’s cities more attractive and ensure an overall good sanitary environment.
Sindeu, whose ministry is coordinating WASH activities in Cameroon in collaboration with the Ministry of Public Health, expressed the wish that the new organisation will enable Cameroonians to have real access to cleanliness and good health.
To the Africa regional adviser, WASH is a government initiative supported by international bodies to work with member states to review the hygienic and sanitary situations of their countries. To the regional adviser governments will be influenced to change their political programmes by adding hygiene and sanitation which is an important aspect of the UN Millennium Development Goals through the contribution of donors, .

The objectives of the organisation include cleaning filthy environments, providing clean drinking water to citizens of member countries, reducing the incidence of diarrhoea which is a major cause of infant mortality, among other things.
Every month, the director of hydraulics and hydrology at the Ministry of Water and Energy who is the president of WASH Cameroon, meets with members of the organisation.
Many countries, including six African nations, are members of WASH.

Meanwhile the Non Governmental Organisation, Health Promotion Watch, has said UN statistics indicate that 3.5 million children in the world die every year because of filthy hands.
To the NGO, the deaths are caused by diseases such as cholera, diarrhoea, hepatitis A, yellow fever, intestinal parasites which are transmitted to the children by people with dirty hands.
Like the minister, Health Promotion Watch officials advised Cameroonians to always wash their hands with soap to reduce the incidence of these diseases. They recommended that people should especially wash their hands with soap after visiting the toilet, after coughing, after dressing body wounds, before preparing food, before feeding a child and before taking care of a sick person.
People should also wash their hands with soap after opening the door of a house by holding the handle, after pressing the button of a lift, after opening the door of a car and after shaking hands because their hands would have been contaminated with bacteria.
According to health experts, washing hands without soap, a widespread practice in Cameroon, is not recommended because ordinary water does not eliminate bacteria on the hands.

Cameroonians should therefore learn to inculcate the culture of using soap to wash their hands in the house, at school, at the work place and in public places.