Public Agenda (Accra)
Kwesi Yirenkyi Boateng
10 October 2008
The saying that every nation relies on a pool of healthy citizenry to develop means that Ghanaians, as noted by Mrs. Mary Quaye, the Deputy Greater Accra Regional Director of Education, "need to be health conscious."
Speaking at a function to start activities for the 'Global Hand Washing Day' scheduled for 15th October, Mrs. Quaye advised both adults and children to wash their hands with soap especially after visiting the toilets, and just before eating.
According to a UNICEF publication on programmes for 2008 as a sanitation year; Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) in schools will focus on creating an effective and healthy environment for school pupils.
The Deputy Regional Education Director, said the School Health Coordinators in every district, and the School Base Health Coordinators are to supervise the implementation of the basic hygiene and hand washing with soap initiatives in all schools.
Pupils from Ministry of Health, Mamprobi Sempe 8, Association International, University of Ghana Basic and Services Junior High Schools were on hand and put up educative sketches and poetry recitals that echoed the message of hand washing with soap.
As an Ambassador of Sanitation, Ms. Eyiram Dotse, the first Runner up at this years' Ghana Most Beautiful, TV3 beauty pageant, stressed on the need to increase awareness on sanitation in the country. She announced that she would be touring all the 10 regions to campaign for greater awareness on sanitation.
Ms. Theodora Amoako-Adjei of the Community Water and Sanitation Agency, observed that "hygiene and gender issues are under reported," and called on the media as an agent of social change to increase a sustained awareness on the essence of hand washing with soap among Ghanaians.
Ms. Amoako-Adjei revealed that feacal-oral transmission of diseases was an unconscious act and therefore much care has to be taken after visiting the toilet. Recalling the prospects of awareness creation over the past years in the country, she said the 41 per cent of people recorded as using soap to wash their hands was encouraging but stressed that there was still room for improvement. She called on Ghanaians to join the campaign for proper sanitation.
The campaign for proper sanitation is being supported by World Bank, UNICEF, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM).
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