Windhoek — Today, Namibia joins the rest of the world in commemorating the first ever Global Hand Washing Day.

The UN General Assembly designated 2008 the International Year of Sanitation, thus Global Hand Washing Day will echo and reinforce its call for improved hygiene practices.

In Namibia, the main event is scheduled to take place in the Ohangwena Region today.

According to the governor of that region Usko Nghaamwa, the main aim of washing hands is to reduce the incidence of diarrhoea and other diseases such as cholera and polio.

Namibia, particularly the northern regions, have just come out of a cholera outbreak that claimed 37 lives. In addition, in the Kunene Region, only 2 236 cases of acute diarrhoea were reported at different health facilities with 10 cases being confirmed as cholera.

Similarly, two years ago, Namibia recorded over 236 suspected cases of polio with 27 deaths.

"It is a very important day for Namibia especially that we have just come out of a cholera situation. We are advocating the washing of hands with soap to kill the bacteria or germs," the Minister of Health and Social Services Dr Richard Kamwi told New Era.

He added that all Namibians regardless of age must automatically put into practice the washing of hands with soap to ensure that no bacteria is taken from the hand to the mouth.

The UN General Assembly says the guiding vision of Global Hand Washing Day is a local and global culture of hand washing with soap.

Although people around the world wash their hands with water, very few wash with soap at critical moments, such as after using the toilet, after cleaning a child and before handling food.

The challenge is to transform hand washing with soap from an abstract good idea into an automatic behaviour performed in homes, schools, and communities worldwide.

Turning hand washing with soap, before eating and after using the toilet, into an ingrained habit could save more lives than any single vaccine or medical intervention, cutting deaths from diarrhoea by almost half and deaths from acute respiratory infections by one-quarter, the UN General Assembly said.

Hand washing with soap would make a significant contribution to meeting the Millennium Development Goal of reducing deaths among children under the age of five by two-thirds by 2015.