Swiss Firm Partners Environfocus to Tackle Water- Borne Diseases
By Bertram
Nwannekanma
20
November 2017 | 4:14 am
Some
school children being taught how to access safe water from LifeStraw community
Every year, an estimated 124,000 children under the
age of 5 die because of diarrhea, mainly due to unsafe water, poor sanitation
and hygiene.
As noted by United Nations International Children’s
Emergency Fund (UNICEF), about 70 million people, out of a population of 171
million, lacked access to safe drinking water in Nigeria.
To change this narrative, a Nigerian registered
firm, EnvironFocus Limited has entered into a strategic partnership with a
Swiss firm, Vestergarrd for the introduction of LifeStraw into Nigeria’s
environment.
Speaking at the public unveiling of the initiative
in Lagos, Water Business Director-Africa Vestergaard Limited, Steve Otieno,
said the product is approved by World Health Organisation and the United
States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). He said the product is put
forward with the mindset that drinking standards water is developed amongst
Nigerians and to reduce the high rate of water borne diseases like typhoid and
diarrhea.
He observed that globally, an estimated 663 million
people lacked access to improved drinking water sources and where improved
sources are available; the water supply is not necessarily safe.
“At least 1.9 billion people are reported to rely
on either unimproved sources or improved sources that are faecally
contaminated. It is in these settings that household water treatment (HWT) and
safe storage can serve as an important interim measure to make drinking water
safer as provided by LifeStraw”.
The product created by Vestergaard, a Swiss
company, he said, has advantage of preventing waterborne diseases such as
diarrhea, typhoid, cholera, worms, and cryptosporidiosis.
“They remove 99 percent of bacteria, 99 percent of
protozoan cysts and 99 percent of viruses. They are affordable, durable, easy
to install, use and maintain. There are different models that will provide
individuals, schools, businesses, families, churches and communities with
instant access to safe clean drinking water on the go and in a location. Water
used can be from any source; river, lake, well, stream, tap etc”, he added.
Also, Otieno said, heath gains from HWT and safe
storage can only be achieved when treatment products are effective in removing
pathogens from drinking water and are used correctly and consistently.
For the Managing Director of EnvironFocus Limited,
the sole distributor of the product in Nigeria, Obie Agusiegbe, the product is
in tandem with the vision of the environment sustainability consulting firm,
which focuses on environmental protection.
Sustainability solution, she said, is needed in the
class of LifeStraw, which is a clean technology that can reduce the amount of
waste in the environment.
The products, which come in various categories was
designed to meet below the pyramid to ensure that all strata of the community
get safe drinking water. LifeStraw is committed to redefining the safe drinking
water space through technology innovation, product quality, design and can only
be sold to the following customers: Government, States, NGOs/ PVOs, Community
groups and Local Corporates (B2B)”, she said.
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