Focus Media (Kigali)
Joseph Karama
1 November 2007
The Canacla is the new individual and public hand-washing technology being promoted by the Ministry of Health (Minisante). It comprises of a small pot that is fitted with a water flushing mechanism similar to that used in indoor toilets. Canacla comes from a French expression Canari à Clapet, which means a small pot with a tap.
As far as Minisante is concerned the launching of the Canacla represents a breakthrough in the struggle against diseases associated with poor hygiene. According to Philbert Ciza, in charge of environmental health in Minisante, 80% of hygiene-related diseases would be solved by washing hands. Most of the contamination comes from human faeces he says. "80% of diseases in poor countries are faecal related. So the simple act of proper hand-washing could go a long way in reducing such infections", he says.
Diseases associated with dirty hands constitute one of the major causes of diarrhea, especially among children of less than five years. Hand-washing could reduce levels of diarrhea disease amongst children by 47% and of respiratory diseases by 30% according to the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
About 80% of the patients in the country suffer from illnesses related to poor hygiene, according to a Minisante memo regarding the launch of the Canacla. Yet, according to a report of the evaluation of water and environmental sanitation program, carried out by the government of Rwanda and Unicef, 66% of Rwandans do not wash their hands after visiting the toilet.
The Canacla innovation therefore comes to revolutionize the hygiene sector in Rwanda, especially by encouraging the practice of hand washing.
How the Canacla was born?
In the beginning, Minisante emphasized that every household or public building have a proper toilet (at least 4 meters deep, with a toilet cover), in order to fight the faecal-related maladies. But soon it was realized that even with adequate toilet facilities, the rate of infections does not go down if people still don't wash their hands. "You can build a good toilet, but if you don't wash your hands after visiting it, then the toilet won't improve hygiene", says Ciza.
Minisante launched a campaign to have all restaurant owners install a tap inside their restaurants, so that people can wash their hands before coming in contact with food. However, Minisante officials soon realized that people end up making their hands dirtier while thinking they are cleaning them.
What happens is that when a person touches the tap to wash his hands, they transfer the germs in their hands to the tap, and when after washing they touch the tap to close it, they pick up the same germs as well as those left by others. In the end, the person goes to eat thinking his hands are clean, when in fact they are dirtier.
Therefore, in 2004 officials from Minisante sat down with experts from the World Health Organization (WHO) and decided that the Canacla was the best method for proper hand-washing.
With the Canacla, the person washing hands doesn't have to touch anything. When you remove your hands, the water stops flowing, so you don't have to contaminate your hands again while closing the tap.
Since 2004, it has been on trial in the Ministry of health. "We started with the Ministry and put a few in the toilets. At first, some of the staff laughed at the idea, but they eventually realized the importance", says Ciza. He adds, "Today, everyone at the Ministry washes their hands. Not that they were not doing it before, but without the Canacla, they were doing it improperly."
He adds that staff of Minisante who took the Canacla to their homes, have reported positive results. "We have testimonies from some of the colleagues here who say their kids don't suffer diarrhea any more ever since they took home the Canacla and explained its use to their house helps", he says.
Less water used
In addition to being the safest and cleanest method of washing hands, the Canacla is also the most economic way of using water so far. For a single hand wash using the ordinary tap, a person can easily use 2 liters of water, compared to 0.03 liters when using the Canacla. If for instance, if a person washes his hands 6 times a day, the Canacla would use 0.03x6=0.2 liters, compared to 2x6= 12 liters for the ordinary tap.
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To put it more easily, the water used by one person on an ordinary tap could be used by 30 people using the Canacla. This means that the method is very suitable even for households or other sites without piped water supply.
Secondly, the Canacla encourages the practice of hand-washing because it makes it less rigorous. The usual bother of having to pour water from, say, a jerrican into a cup and then finding soap in order to wash your hands, is no longer necessary.
Most people find such a procedure too demanding, and choose to go without washing. Besides, such a method promotes further spread of germs (through the jerrican and cup), especially if you come from the toilet.
Then also the Canacla is eco-friendly. For one thing, it promotes the efficient use of water; and for another, the method consumes less soap, which is an environmental pollutant.
Getting the price down
"We are starting with a hundred samples that we shall distribute in hospitals around the country. They will be put them in the waiting and treatment rooms so that patients can see them", says Ciza. At the moment all the offices in the various Minisante departments have the Canacla. It is normally attached to the wall to minimize the risk of breaking.
The ministry of health also plans to launch a media campaign to publicize the method, according to Ciza. Then the craftspeople involved in the design of the Canacla will be sent to the rural districts to train other persons in how to fabricate it. The aim is to localize and multiply their production.
The idea of the Canacla does not originate in Rwanda. The method has been used in other countries including Senegal. However, Minisante added some innovation to the technology in order make it more suitable for conditions in Rwanda, says Ciza.
According to Mr. Ciza, the only shortcoming so far is its cost. The clay type of Canacla costs around Frw 10,000. However, he said that a women association, Icyuzuzo, based in Nyamirambo has produced one made of plastic that goes at Frw 2,000. "We shall continue to make innovations on it until its price goes down to at least Frw 1,000, which every Rwandan can afford", he added.
Meanwhile, all Rwandans are invited to purchase the clay type of the Canacla which is available at Minisante offices; at Aspar and Caurwa associations based in Gikondo and Rugunga respectively, as well as Gatagara Pottery in Muhanga. The Canacla will also soon be in shops country wide.
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