50% of SFH’s programme beneficiaries are the poor.

50% of rural pregnant women and children under 5 sleep under long lasting insecticide treated nets in at least two focus states.
Modern contraceptive prevalence rate increases from 11% to 16%.

Consistent condom use among high risk groups increases by 20%.

SFH MISSION

Society for Family Health has a mission to empower Nigerians, particularly the poor and vulnerable to lead healthier lives...more 

Diarrhoeal Disease Prevention and Control

Society for Family Health (SFH) is dedicated to improving the health of mothers, pregnant women, and children under the age of five in Nigeria.  It utilises social marketing techniques and promotes products and programming to tackle one of Nigeria’s largest health burdens:  Diarrhoeal disease. Controlling Diarrhoea using Safe Water Systems:  As a result of inadequate water supply infrastructure, over 42% of the Nigerian population lacks access to improved water supply sources.   As the government and donor agencies work to improve this situation, interim steps are critical to addressing the dangers associated with the ingestion of contaminated water.   Diarrhoeal disease alone is responsible for 27% of all infant morbidity and 24% of all infant mortality in Nigeria.  Diarrhoea among young children is a huge problem in Nigeria, and clean water is the answer. 

WaterGuard and PUR:  SFH offers a simple and inexpensive water purification product that was developed by the U.S. Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO), called “WaterGuard”.  WaterGuard is an inexpensive ‘point-of-use’ hypochlorite solution (1%) that can be easily used to treat contaminated water and make it safe for drinking.  One bottle of WaterGuard can provide safe water to a family of six for approximately one month at a minimal cost. WaterGuard is also particularly effective in mitigating and containing cholera outbreaks – the product was distributed during eight cholera outbreaks since 2005 and proved to be a critical intervention in saving hundreds of lives.  While long-term plans to construct piped, chlorinated water supply infrastructure are underway, WaterGuard provides an important and inexpensive option to accessing safe water in the short-term.  

An additional product that SFH promotes, in areas where the water quality is very poor and water contains higher concentrations of organic matter and sediment, is a water treatment powder called PUR.  PUR works much like WaterGuard, but with an extra element, that it “flocculates” matter and sediment, allowing it to settle to the bottom of a bucket to be filtered off, for completely clear and treated water.   PUR is a product that is very popular in areas where water must be drawn from wells, streams, or other open water sources.   These PUR packets, called ‘sachets’ are sold in markets for only 10 naira, and a sachet purifies 10 litres of water.  SFH works with communities, families, and medicine vendors to inform people about this product and to make sure it is available for sale throughout Nigeria.  

Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Projects:   Provision of products that provide potable water alone is not always adequate in preventing diarrhoeal diseases in a community, thus SFH is also implementing integrated Water, Sanitation and Hygiene projects (WASH).   WASH projects focus on provision of basic water and sanitation infrastructure (boreholes and latrines), community education, and promotion of household point-of-use water treatment products, thus impacting positively on water and sanitation issues at the community and household level.  In Enugu, SFH is working with communities and schools to install new boreholes and latrines, along with education and support in promotion of water disinfectant products, along with improving household latrine use.   This project is implemented in collaboration with various partners including USAID, the Coca Cola Africa Foundation, Global Environment and Technology Foundation (GETF) and Proctor and Gamble.  This WASH project is designed to reduce the community prevalence of diarrhoeal disease in targeted communities in Nkanu East, of Enugu State, using primary schools and their respective neighbouring communities to address issues associated with a lack of sanitation and water infrastructure.   Purification of water, using products such as PUR in rural sites, is integral to the project, to reduce the incidence of illness and diarrhoea, with education on the importance of point-of-use purification, and safe storage of water.  

New Ventures:   The MCH Department at SFH is looking for new ways to serve communities in achieving improved public health for mothers and children.   SFH is currently looking at developing additional programmes in maternal and child health – through improved nutrition, clean water/ORS, health education, newborn health, and women’s health during pregnancy.  

The Society for Family Health...Creating Change, Enhancing Lives