A former Minister of Power, Chinedu Nebo, says clean and abundant freshwater is fundamental and necessary to human health in every country.

Mr Nebo made the remark in Nsukka, Enugu State, on Friday during the third International Conference on Water in Africa (ICWA).

It was organised by the Water and Public Health Research Group (WPHRG), University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN), with the theme “Water and the Sustainable Development Goals: Exploring Indigenous Approaches in Sub-Saharan Africa.”

He described as appropriate the aim of the conference to train participants in communities on deploying evidence-based microbiology and water-testing kits as educational tools that demonstrate best practices for identifying safe drinking water.

“Clean and abundant freshwater is fundamental to human health,” he said.

Mr Nebo, also a former VC of the University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN), urged participants and the host community to embrace the unique opportunity provided by the ICWA 2024 by participating actively in the conference.

Robert Metcalf, emeritus professor at the California State University, stressed in a virtual keynote address the importance of safe water to human health.

He attributed open defecation to other causes of water pollution common in developing countries.

“Water quality monitoring is often a missing factor in programmes to improve access to safe drinking water in low-income countries, despite its importance from a public health standpoint.

“This is because standard tests using multiple-tube fermentation or membrane filtration require specialised equipment and training.

“In addition, the linkage between water quality and disease is commonly not appreciated at the community and household level,” he said.

The expert noted that public health problems in urban areas resulted from water supplies being intermittently polluted.

“Water quality testing must be a component where drinking water is involved. For low-income countries with limited resources, it is recommended they establish realistic, achievable standards,” he said.

In a remark, Charles Igwe, the vice chancellor of UNN, represented by Romanus Ezeokonkwo, deputy vice chancellor, administration, said the importance of improving water and sanitation practices cannot be overstated in boosting human health.

Earlier, Vincent Chigor, the coordinator of WPHRG and executive director of ‘Our Water and Health Network Africa (OWHN) Africa’, explained that in the next 10 years, there will be a need to mobilise, motivate and move stakeholders to explore the prime place of water towards the successful delivery of United Nations sustainable development goals (SDGs) in Africa.

(NAN)