One of Nigeria’s leading toilet cleaning solutions, Harpic, manufactured by Reckitt Nigeria, has partnered with the federal government through Organised Private Sector in Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (OPS-WASH) to maintain clean toilets and end open defecation in the country.
Marketing Director, Reckitt Sub-Saharan Africa, Tanzim Rezwan, disclosed this yesterday during the World Toilet Summit in Abuja.
He said, “We are working with the government in every way we can to achieve zero open defecation in Nigeria.
“As part of our agenda to continuously drive innovative ideas that will ensure more people have access to clean toilets, we recently introduced a new product, Harpic Sachet, which has now made it possible for the masses to have access to a clean toilet with just N30. We will also continue to drive awareness and education through our TV and digital communications, as well as community programmes.”
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The Vice President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, said that globally an estimated two-third of people who lacked basic access to sanitation services lived in rural areas, adding that nearly half of them were in Sub-Saharan Africa, while 92 per cent of the world’s population practicing open defecation lived in those areas.
He said the government had consistently affirmed commitment to the development of the WASH sector and had demonstrated aspirations through the many initiatives it had championed, including a coordination platform for private sector organisations working in the WASH sector known as OPS-WASH to ensure effective coordination of private sector interventions.
The founder of the World Toilet Organisation, Professor Jack Sim, expressed concern that over two million children and people died of diarrhoea every year.
He said, “It is serious that open defecation is unspoken everywhere and the standard of living of people cannot be improved if the challenge of open defecation is not discussed.”