Global Hand Washing Day is celebrated on 15th October every year
world over.

The day created in August 2008 at the Annual World Water Week in Stockholm Sweden was endorsed by the United Nations General Assembly.

Global Hand Washing Day is an opportunity to design, test and
replicate creative ways to encourage people to wash their hands at critical times.

Theme for this year’s Hand Washing Day is “Clean hands; a recipe for health”.

This year’s theme focuses on the links between hand washing and food, including food hygiene and nutrition as important part to keeping food safe, preventing diseases and helping children to grow strong.

Speaking on the significant of the day, the former President World
Organization for Early Child Education with UNICEF, Lady Pat Okeke, said that the day is important as it will help to create awareness on proper hand washing, noting that washing of hands entails washing cris-cross fingers with soap or ash with water.

She urged people to wash correctly as the hand put eatables into the mouth to avoid germs.

Lady Pat who stated that germs get to the palms easily and causes
diarrhea among children under five years as their hands collect germs
while crawling and gets into the mouth, recalled that hand washing helped Nigerians in fighting Ebola, describing hand washing as an intervention to good health.

For a nurse in Onitsha, Mrs Ifeyinwa Okoye, people should wash their hands before eating, after defecating or playing, adding that it is safer to wash hands using running water and clean the hands with disposable paper towel to avoid contacting diseases.

Mrs Okoye maintained that hands are the leading carriers of germs that causes diarrhea and other respiratory infections like pneumonia and advocated more awareness on hand washing in schools, homes and public places.

Also speaking, another respondent, Mr Ekene Aghasiefo, said that hand
washing promotes good health as it removes dirt, soil and micro organisms from hands noting that it is important for people to wash their hands especially before eating, cooking or feeding others.

Mr Aghasiefo advocated establishment of facilities and places to wash hands in communities, schools, work places and in health facilities to promote effective hand washing and called on government at all levels to promote the act through research, programs, policies and advocacy for a healthy society.

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