The Federal Government on Thursday, February 24, 2022, inaugurated guidelines to bring back house-to-house inspection, control of public health pests and vector infestation for environmental health professionals in the country.
The Minister of State for Environment, Mrs Sharon Ikeazor, inaugurated the guidelines for pest control, premises inspection, decontamination and disinfection of microbial and chemical impacted surfaces in Abuja. The exercise was organised by Environmental Health Officers Registration Council of Nigeria (EHORECON).
Ikeazor, represented by Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Mr Hassan Musa, said that the guidelines would help for effective discharge of duty by the officers of environmental health in the country.
She said that the guideline would also offered the officers the power for enforcement and surveillance as well as preventing spread of contaminated diseases in the country.
“A lot of money has been spent by the government to ensure that various diseases and sicknesses are prevented and controlled.
“The guidelines inaugurated today is a great thing and will go a long way to addressing environmental challenges that will bring healthy live and healthy environment to our society,’’ she said.
The minister, however, commended the EHORECON officers for ensuring that the inauguration of the guidelines was implemented, adding that the effort would improve the health of Nigerians.
She urged both the state and local government levels of the environmental health officers to support by ensuring that the guidelines were put into practice effectively.
Dr Yakubu Baba, the Registrar of the EHORECON, said that the development of the guidelines would guide the environmental health for effective discharge of their duties.
Baba said the guideline would offered the environmental officers power for house to house premises inspection, adding that the exercise was one of the critical assignment to the officers in the country.
“Another guideline is on the pest control, we are all aware that most of the diseases spreading around the country today are cause by pests; such disease could be malaria, high fever among others.
“We agreed that the government, even some private sectors and individuals had spent so much money in providing drugs for treatment of malaria and other diseases.
“The reason we are making all these effort is to ensure that it is be controlled.
“We believed also that the objective of these guidelines is to bring the operational procedures from integrated public health pest management to be anchored by the environmental health officers.
“The third guideline is a child of necessity, we have seen the issue of the COVID-19 pandemic, which had spread globally and cause so much trouble in the lives of most people.
“We have also seen the contribution of the environmental health officer especially on the issue of contamination and disinfection on public places.
“So, the essence of the guideline on the contamination is to bring uniformity and put step by step approach for safety of lives and environment.
“The last guideline is the presidential agendas in terms of job creation; there is a lot of job opportunities in the environmental health.
“So, the minister is issuing this guideline to provide enabling environment for private sector`s participation in the environmental health.
“We believed with this guideline, there will be opportunity for more than ten thousand jobs in the environmental sector,’’ he said.
Baba said that the guideline would help to protect the environment and go a long way to curtail infectious diseases across the country.
By Vivian Emoni
