Written By: Emeka Okwuonu
Global Hand Washing Day celebration is a day set aside by global world to increase awareness and understanding of benefits of hand washing with soap under running water. The celebration is an opportunity designed to test and replicate creative ways to encourage people to wash their hands at critical times. It reminds us that Hand washing with soap or ash is vital part of cooking, eating and feeding.
Hand washing with soap or ash is also among the most effective and inexpensive ways to prevent diseases. It can be thought as a ‘’do it yourself’’ vaccine for prevention of diseases. Hand washing with soap or ash takes cognizance of critical times to wash hands such as after visiting the toilets, after cleaning or changing baby’s diapers, after playing, before eating, after counting money, after changing menstrual pads, after touching animals etcetera.
Despite its life saving potentials, hand washing with soap or ash is seldom practiced and not always easy to promote due to lack of knowledge of its health benefits. The annual celebration of global hand washing day is designed to foster and support a global and local culture of hand washing with water and soap or ash, shine a spotlight on the state of hand washing in each country and raise awareness about the benefits of hand washing with soap or ash.
Global Hand washing is celebrated on fifteenth of October every year for sensitization of the world on hand washing with soap or ash thus, buttressing the importance of effective hand washing with soap or ash under running water.
The celebration in Anambra will be a measure of sensitization of the people on ways of preventing the transmission of diseases such as diarrhea, dysentery, intestinal worms, avian or swine flu, acute respiratory infections such as cold and catarrh, bronchitis among others. Studies reveal that diarrheal diseases such as cholera and dysentery kill almost four million children yearly in developing counties and hands are the principal carriers of these diseases.
Hand washing with water and soap or ash, not only reduces these mortalities but also enhances healthier living, free from such illnesses. Although people around the world wash their hands with water, very few wash with soap or ash at critical moments. Therefore, washing hands with water alone is not enough, though it is a common practice around the world; it is significantly less effective than washing hands with soap since soap confers cleansing properties when used.
There is need for continuous sensitization of Ndi Anambra on importance of hand washing for reduction of morbidity and mortality rate, especially among children and aged. Those are the most vulnerable because of low or reduction of their immune system.
Ndi Anambra need constant sensitization on effective hand washing so that they will not go back to their normal way of wetting hands instead of proper hand washing with soap under running water to prevent hygiene related diseases.
Children are agents of change and they need this annual event to remind them of the importance of the cheap but life saving means to good health so that the habit will become part of them for life to ensure healthy generation that will carry the State, Nation and world to greater heights.
The theme of the 2019 Global hand washing Day is, Clean Hands for All, which follows the push to leave no one behind in sustainable development agenda. The celebration will, no doubt, go a longer way to enlighten our people on the cheap way to healthy living, especially when there is a natural disaster like flooding.
Effective Hand washing saved Nigerians from the Ebola outbreak when the virus infested some parts of the country. Hand washing with soap is critical for preventing disease spread and reducing the health impacts of disasters as a result of improper hand washing.
Therefore, our health is in our hands. This year’s celebration will continue to remind Ndi-Anambra the merits of clean hands, which is a sure way to good health.
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