Arewa Health Promotion Initiative, Kano WASH Forum Move to Establish School Health Clubs

By Umar Idris Shuaibu, Kano

The Arewa Health Promotion Initiatives has unveiled plans to establish School Health Clubs across Kano State’s 44 local government areas as part of efforts to promote hygiene, prevent disease outbreaks and improve community health.

The Executive Director of the organisation, Malam Adamu Ahmad Ibrahim, disclosed this today in Kano, during an engagement with heads of departments responsible for Water, Environmental Sanitation and Hygiene in the state’s local government areas.

He said the meeting was organised to discuss the implementation of the initiative, which seeks to revive school-based health promotion platforms and equip pupils with the knowledge and practices needed to prevent common diseases.

According to him, the organisation believes that promoting preventive health measures in schools will help reduce the spread of diseases within educational institutions and the wider community.

Ibrahim identified cholera, typhoid fever, malaria and diphtheria as some of the diseases the initiative seeks to address through sustained hygiene education and preventive interventions.

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He explained that the programme would involve establishing a School Health Club in each participating school across the 44 local government areas, with the engagement serving as a platform for discussing how best to implement the project.

The executive director expressed hope that the initiative would be sustained beyond its initial implementation, stressing that its long-term objective was to reduce disease prevalence and prevent the spread of avoidable infections across Kano State.

He urged residents to support sanitation and hygiene initiatives, noting that maintaining personal and environmental cleanliness was fundamental to protecting public health.

Ibrahim also called on communities to cooperate with health promotion activities, pointing out that some interventions require little more than people’s time, participation and willingness to offer useful advice.

Speaking during the engagement, the facilitator, Umar Ibrahim Umar, urged heads of departments (HoDs) to take ownership of the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) programmes and champion their implementation across their respective local government areas.

He described their roles as critical to the success of the initiative, noting that their capacity to translate the programme’s objectives into practical action at the grassroots would determine its impact on local communities.

Umar added that cascading the training and knowledge gained from the engagement would help facilitate the establishment of School Health Clubs and strengthen hygiene awareness among pupils and the wider population.

He expressed hope that the initiative would establish a sustainable platform for health education that would remain active for generations, rather than become a short-lived intervention.

According to him, the expectation is to establish functional School Health Clubs that would ensure continuity across successive classes, allowing students in lower classes to take over leadership and responsibilities from those who graduate.

Also speaking, the Chairman of the Kano State WASH Forum, Sabil Muhammad Galadima, pledged the forum’s commitment to supporting the successful implementation of the initiative.

Galadima said the programme would complement the forum’s ongoing efforts to improve water, sanitation and hygiene services and promote better health outcomes across the state’s 44 local government areas.

He expressed optimism that collaboration between the initiative and relevant stakeholders would strengthen community health interventions and improve public awareness of sanitation and disease prevention.

In his remarks, Comrade Abdullahi Muhammad Gwarzo, Director of Salary and Wages at the Ministry for Local Government, emphasised the importance of environmental health, describing prevention as a critical component of effective healthcare delivery.

Gwarzo said continuous public sensitisation was necessary to help residents understand the importance of environmental sanitation, safe water and personal hygiene, noting that many people still neglected preventive measures.

He urged the forum to sustain its community engagement efforts and explore partnerships with government agencies and non-governmental organisations to strengthen environmental health services.

Gwarzo also raised concerns about staffing shortages and the distribution of environmental health personnel across local government departments, arguing that inadequate staffing could undermine service delivery.

He called for constructive engagement with the relevant authorities to address the challenges, including possible staff redeployment and recruitment, while ensuring that other essential local government health services were not adversely affected.

He assured the forum of his willingness to support its efforts whenever necessary, expressing hope that stronger collaboration would help revitalise environmental health services and improve sanitation across Kano State.

The proposed School Health Clubs are expected to provide a platform for sustained hygiene education and disease prevention among pupils, with the broader goal of extending the benefits to families and communities throughout the state.