WaterAid Ghana, a Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) focused organisation, has urged government and major stakeholders to provide handwashing facilities at institutions and public places, to encourage handwashing behaviour among Ghanaians.
Ms Perpetual Diabene, the Northern Ghana Programmes Manager, WaterAid Ghana, noted that the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic had encouraged regular handwashing behaviour and underscored the urgent need to provide the necessary facilities at institutions and public places to consolidate the gains.
Ms Diabene made the call when WaterAid Ghana joined students and teachers of the Bolgatanga Senior High School (Big Boss) at Winkongo in the Talensi District of the Upper East Region, to commemorate this year’s Global Handwashing Day which falls on October 15 each year.
The Programmes Manager noted that regular handwashing especially at critical points was the most effective, easy and affordable way of preventing infections and diseases and encouraged the students to adopt the practice to stay healthy.
“We call on government to also make infrastructure available because we say people should wash their hands like this school for instance, we are encouraging students to wash their hands but if the handwashing stations are not available like the veronica buckets, sink with running water, they will not be able to wash their hands.
“So, we are calling on the government and the school authorities to make these facilities available to facilitate the behaviour we are promoting,” she stressed.
Ms Diabene noted that apart from the hygiene campaign, which was being rolled out in the school, WaterAid Ghana with funding from Zochonis Charitable Trust had provided the school with sanitation facilities to encourage good sanitation practices among the students.
“At the end of the day, we want to see a healthy student population with good wellbeing to enhance their academic performance and for their future development, so, we encourage everyone to wash their hands especially before you eat, after visiting toilet, before feeding a baby or touching food,” she added.
She encouraged those who did not have handwashing facilities to improvise and adopt the tip tap machines to help them regularly wash their hands.
Mr Benjamin Naab, the Talensi District Coordinator, School Health Education Programme (SHEP), Ghana Education Service, noted that most of the diseases such as typhoid, malaria, cholera and COVID-19 among others could be prevented if regular handwashing was encouraged.
He therefore urged the students to frequently wash their hands with soap under clean running water to ensure they did not contract diseases and infections.
Mr Ababu Afelbiek, the Headmaster, Big Boss, expressed gratitude to WaterAid Ghana and its partners for the support the school had enjoyed over the years and added that it had contributed to improving the sanitation and hygiene situation in the school.
Global Handwashing Day, established by the Global Handwashing Partnership in 2008 and celebrated October 15, each year, is a global advocacy dedicated to increasing awareness and understanding about the importance of handwashing with soap under running water and encouraging its adoption.
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