Restoring dignity
Inspiring care
Ramatu Amami didn’t mind the long hours and days spent at the bedside of her sick daughter who was recuperating after a surgery at the Yobe Specialist Hospital in Gashua, northeast Nigeria.
However, what the 50-year-old did not bargain for was how undignified visiting and using the toilets would be in the hospital.
Ramatu’s experience used to be the reality of patients and their relatives at the Yobe Specialist Hospital, the only tertiary medical care institution in Gashua. Established to provide intensive care for people who need it, the facility is central to the wellbeing of thousands of men, women and children.
At any given time, over 5,000 patients are admitted for intensive medical care at the hospital which serves people from neighbouring towns, including Damaturu, the capital city of Yobe State.
But the population of patients had long overwhelmed the water and sanitation facilities at the hospital, resulting in an unhygienic environment and open defecation.
Lack of improved toilets and poor management of human excreta do not just jeopardize household health; it undermines public health. Over time, sanitation efforts by stakeholders have been largely focused on households, leaving public facilities behind.
“My daughter had some health problems and doctors had to operate on her. I had to leave everything to be with my daughter and Alhamdulilah, the surgery went well, and she is recovering. The problem was that it was difficult to use the toilets because the available ones were distant from the female ward. Imagine what caregivers and patients had to do if we must use the convenience in the middle of the night. It was not a very good experience.’’
According to Making Nigeria Open-Defecation-Free by 2025, a national road map published by the Federal Ministry of Water Resources, achieving an open-defecation-free Nigeria will require the construction of 20 million household toilets and 43,000 toilets in schools, health centres and public spaces.
UNICEF, through the Resilience and Social Cohesion (Peace) project in northeast Nigeria is collaborating with the Government and relevant partners to prevent disease outbreak and ensure a holistic sanitation package as part of the recovery process for children, women and men at the hospital and across Nigeria’s northeast region by extension.
The project which is in its second phase, is funded by the German Development Bank (BMZ) and aims to enhance the resilience of children and women affected by conflict in the region, address global sanitation crisis and achieve the Sustainable Development Goal 6 by 2030.
Through the project, additional toilets fitted with a borehole, water and handwash facilities were added to the female ward wing of the hospital, effectively eliminating open defecation and restoring the dignity of patients and caregivers within the hospital community.
The new toilets have brought so much relief to us,’’ said Ramatu. “Everyone is happy to know that our welfare is important,’’ she added.
The Head of Administration at the hospital, Ali Lawan Hamma is hopeful that the facilities will be maintained for the continued wellbeing of patients.
“We are happy and grateful for the additional toilets. Our population is large – 5,000 patients and 200 staff members. There is no doubt that we needed additional support, and we are happy about the new toilets. We will do everything possible to maintain them,’’ he said.
