Director General of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Brigadier General Y. D. Ahmed, has said that environmental sanitation is an essential tool against the breakdown of diseases in public spaces.
He noted that it has been recognised globally as one of the key requirements for the prevention of diseases and the escalation of epidemics.
Speaking at the flag-off ceremony of the nationwide Environmental Sanitation Exercise early hours of Saturday at the popular Ipata market area in Ilorin, the director general, who spoke through the Kwara state coordinator of the NYSC, Mr Onifade Olaoluwa, described the exercise as worthy cause.
He also said that NYSC has a national mandate to enlighten the general public on the health risks of poor environmental hygiene.
The NYSC helmsman also said that the exercise “is geared towards mobilizing and sensitizing every member of the society to cultivate the culture of keeping their environment clean in order to prevent disease outbreak”.
He explained that NYSC recently held a second-quarter medical outreach, Health Initiative for Rural Dwellers, saying that most of the ailments diagnosed and treated were a result of poor hygiene.
He, therefore, said that “efforts must be made to save many more lives by empowering the people with adequate information on good grooming and empowering the people with adequate information on environmental hygiene”.
The Director General expressed his satisfaction with the turnout and response of the people and hope for the prospect of the exercise, “because it would go a long way in bringing to consciousness of the people that with regular sanitation, malaria and other related diseases would be drastically reduced to the minimum proportion”.
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