In the wake of the outbreak of Lassa fever in some states in the country, indigenous bleach manufacturer, Hypo, has kicked off a sanitisation campaign in partnership with the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).
The initiative is aligned with the brand’s objectives of ensuring healthy living via a clean and germ-free environment.
The campaign exercise began in Lagos at the popular Oke-Arin market where market women were brought together and educated on how to keep themselves and their environment safe from all manner of diseases, including Lassa Fever.
This includes preventing rats from houses, regular hand washing, storing food in covered container, cooking food properly, as well as cleaning home and surrounding regularly, amongst others.
According to report, Nigeria has registered an upsurge in the number of Lassa Fever cases since the beginning of the year, with 365 positive cases and 47 deaths reported from 23 states across the country.
In its last week situation report, NCDC disclosed that the number of states reporting at least a case of the disease rose to 23 from 19 in the previous week.
At the programme, Brand Manager of Hypo Bleach, Ms. Omotunde Bamigbaiye, explained that the move was to prevent further spread of the disease.
She noted that the choice of market and women in particular was strategic, considering women’s role in the management of the home.
“It is not just coincidental that the sanitisation campaign against Lassa Fever is launched in two cities today, because Thursdays have been earmarked specially for environmental sanitation exercise across most major open markets in Nigeria. The idea is to have the public incorporate effective sanitization approach into their regular cleaning while at the same time take them through step by step processes to prevent the spread of Lassa fever both at their shops and at home,” she said.
The Public Relations Manager, Tolaram Group, Omotayo Abiodun, also enjoined the women to put all that they have learnt to use and equally spread the message to others.
She added, “the campaign kicks off simultaneously in two locations today, here in Oke Arin market and Oja Oba market in Akure South LG, Ondo. We shall be moving to Edo tomorrow at Ekpoma main market and then Abuja on saturday at Wuse main market.
The campaign is billed to touch 11 states, with the mostly affected cities at the forefront.
The exercise has been planned to run alongside the NCDC, with its team in attendance at all locations to strengthen its impact.
