Some 2.2 million people lost their lives to diarrhea annually in Nigeria, a high-ranking official of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said here Friday.

Theresa Pamma, water and environmental sanitation officer of UNICEF Country Office in Nigeria, said at the inauguration of a 20 million naira (about 150,000 US dollars) school hand-wash program in the Nigerian capital Abuja, said that every year witnessed over four million cases of diarrhea in the west African country.

She said 10 percent of the population in the developing world suffered intestinal worm infection and another six million suffered blindness as a result of trachoma.

The official said the UNICEF coordinated program on water and environmental sanitation in schools was to reduce children's exposure to diseases by providing safe water and environmental sanitation facilities.

The program would also promote hygiene education among the school children through key hygiene practices such as hand washing and hygienic water uses, she said, adding the UNICEF was in partnership with consumer chemical maker Unilever Nigeria in the implementation of the program.

The scheme would be implemented in 111 local areas comprising 222 schools and would involve the distribution of soaps, buckets and sanitary towels, according to the official.

Amina Zekeri, an official from the Federal Territory Capital Abuja, cited poor sanitary conditions and the non-adherence to development plans as some of the factors responsible for the outbreak of diseases.

Zekeri called for improved hygienic conditions, saying that "we should be more concerned about the factors responsible for diseases such as poor sanitary conditions rather than treating the disease itself."

Unilever Nigeria has so far set aside a total of 78.6 million naira (about 590,000 dollars) to fund the program which will cover three years beginning from this year.

Source: Xinhua