UNICEF Moves to Strengthen Health Safety in Borno as New Supplies Reach Over 200 Facilities

(UNICEF Donates Infection Prevention Materials. Photo by Facebook Punchnewspaper)

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has supplied hygiene and infection control materials to more than 200 health facilities spread across all 27 local government areas in Borno State.

The donation was announced on Friday by the UNICEF Chief of the Maiduguri Field Office, Francis Butichi, at a meeting held in Maiduguri with officials from the Borno State Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency and the state’s healthcare services.

Butichi explained that the Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Facility Improvement Tools (WASHFIT) were provided to raise the quality, safety, and long-term sustainability of healthcare services, particularly for women and children in the state.

He noted that the tools are designed to strengthen infection prevention and control, improve access to clean water, encourage proper hygiene practices, and enhance the management of healthcare waste all of which are critical to shielding patients, health workers, and surrounding communities from infections that could otherwise be avoided.

The donated items, which include buckets, sprayers, and detergents, were assessed in line with national standards as well as global guidelines from the World Health Organization and UNICEF.

Butichi also highlighted the urgent need for such intervention, pointing out that maternal deaths during childbirth remain a serious concern in Nigeria, with a woman dying every seven minutes during delivery often due to unsafe environments or poorly managed equipment.

He emphasized that the donation reflects UNICEF’s commitment to helping the government close critical gaps in facilities that fall short of minimum hygiene and infection control standards.

In response, the General Manager of the Borno State Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency, Muhammad Aliyu, praised the gesture, describing it as a well-timed intervention for vulnerable women and children in the state, and pledged that the materials would be properly used and maintained.