CWSA Educates School Children on Proper Handwashing with Soap

The Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA) has launched the Global Handwashing Day ahead of the main event which falls on Sunday October 15, 2017 to educate children on the need to adopt the habit of washing their hands properly with soap to avoid germs and bacterial infections.

This year’s event, which was launched under the theme “Our Hands Our Future” brought together school children from many different schools such as the Alhassan Memorial Islamic School Ashiaman, Nungua Secondary School, Holy Shalom Academy, West African Senior High School, Ghanata Senior High, Church of Christ School Ashiaman, Frafraha Senior High, Adjei Kojo TMA 1&2 and many more at Adjei Kojo Government School in Accra.

Speaking at the ceremony, the Extension Services Coordinator of the Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA), Theodora Adomako-Adjei said schools activities has always been a major part of Global Handwashing Day celebrations to sensitize school children and use them as change agents to spread the importance of handwashing with soap.

She noted that Global Handwashing Day has provided an opportunity to celebrate, advocate and raise the awareness of the importance of handwashing with soap.

Mrs. Adomako-Adjei indicated that the celebration has served as a catalyst for both national and local action to promote and sustain handwashing habits.

She added that Handwashing with soap is induced in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Target 6.2 for sanitation and hygiene.

“By adding a crucial handwashing component to existing and ongoing sanitation activities, the critical health benefits to achieve the SDG 6 can be realized,” the Coordinator for CWSA stated.

According to her, handwashing is also important for meeting targets around child survival, nutrition, gender, equity and education.

Theodora Adomako-Adjei emphasized that CWSA since 2001 has provided the anchor for the public private partnership for Handwashing with soap under its mandate for water and sanitation delivery and hygiene promotion.

She posited that the Global Handwashing Partnership initiated the first Global Handwashing Day on October 15, 2008, mobilizing millions of school children to wash their hands with soap.

The event was marked with donation of prizes and items to schools that were selected that took part in the Tippy Tap Construction competition, unveiling of 16 Handwashing with Soap Ambassadors who are school children, an interactive education on handwashing with soap and donation of 5 poly tanks by the New Crystal Hospital located in Ashiaman.

The Headmaster of the Adjei-Kojo TMA 1 Basic School, Mr. Kofi Mensah stressed that many of us tend to overlook how important hand washing is on daily basis yet it holds the very basis of child mortality issues.

He indicated that hand washing with soap is seldom practiced and difficult to promote despite the lifesaving potential.

“Hand washing with soap is the most effective and cheapest means of preventing diarrheal and acute respiratory infections which take the lives of millions of children in developing countries every year,” he stated.

The Headmaster of the School noted that encouraging 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 diarrhea by almost half and deaths from acute respiratory infections by one-quarter.

According to him, Global Handwashing Day focuses on children because not only do they suffer from diarrhea and respiratory diseases and deaths but research shows that children- the segment of society so often the most energetic, enthusiastic and open to ideas- can also be powerful agents for changing behaviors like hand washing with soap in their communities.

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