The Minister for Sanitation and Water Resources, Joseph Kofi Addah was in Parliament to conscientize legislators to adopt the habit of handwashing with soap under running water before and after they leave the Chamber.
As part of ongoing celebration of this year’s Global Handwashing Day on Sunday 15th October, 2017, the sector minister did a demonstration on the floor of Parliament on how to wash the hands properly with soap under running water.
The Minority Chief Whip, Mohammed Muntaka, Member of Parliament (MP) for Asawase Constituency in the Ashanti Region quickly accused the sector minister of washing his hands without following the generally acceptable best practices and procedures for handwashing.
According to him, the Ministry during his demonstration misled members of the House by failing to wash his hands to the wrist level which he could have resolved that by first removing his wrist watch.
He added that the Minister also failed to scratch his fingers between his palms which usually gather dirt.
The MP for Efutu in the Central Region, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, in a knee-jerk reaction counter-accused some minority members of several instances where they were spotted eating without properly washing their hands with soap under running water at the cafeteria.
The debate, which last for 30minutes led to counter accusations by both sides of the House just to deepen the awareness on the essence of handwashing with soap under running water after usual handshakes in public before entering the chamber to avoid infections.
Delivering his statement on the floor of Parliament under the theme, “Our Hands, Our Future,” the sector Minister said our hands are the principal carriers of diseases-cutting pathogens from either direct person-to-person contact or indirectly through surfaces of various materials.
According to him, handwashing with soap removes germs from hands which help to prevent transmission of infections and diarrheal diseases including cholera.
Mr. Kofi Addah added intimated that for a variety of reasons, many people do not regard handwashing with soap as a priority or undertakes that activity wrongly thus resulting in the frequent occurrence of needless deaths and lowering of productivity.
“The provision by the state of adequate supply of quality water and improved sanitation alone are not enough but our lifestyles do matter, personal hygiene practices such as handwashing with soap before and after meals, as well as after group functions are all essential complements to the availability of water and sanitation facilities,” he emphasized.
The sector minister appealed to members of the House and Ghanaians in general to make handwashing with soap a top priority in their activities.
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