By Evans Worlanyo Ameamu
Keta (V/R), May 6, GNA- Residents in the Keta Municipality of the Volta Region and beyond have been urged to adopt the habit of regular and proper handwashing to promote hand hygiene to enable drive away germs, diseases, and infections.
The call reaffirmed the critical role the simple act of handwashing plays in protecting patients, health workers, families, and entire communities from life-threatening infections.
Madam Dora Kugbonu, Public Health Nurse at the Keta Municipal Health Directorate, who urged the residents, indicated that the day was observed annually on May 5, and was championed by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
She explained that the occasion served as a powerful reminder that one of the most effective weapons against the spread of disease and infections was washing and maintaining proper hand hygiene through handwashing with soap regularly, thoroughly, and consistently under a running water.
“We are calling on all health workers and individuals across the municipality, the region and the entire country to treat hand hygiene not just a routine, but as a genuine act of care,” she said.
Madam Kugbonu described the handwashing initiative as a conscious and daily commitment to the safety and dignity of everyone who walks through the doors of any health facility and in society.
She said healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) remained one of the leading threats to patient safety globally, and a significant proportion could be prevented by cleaning hands at the right moments during patient care, and urged the public to always prioritise handwashing as a routine exercise to prevent many dangerous infection and germs.
“Hand hygiene is not only about protecting patients but equally about safeguarding health workers who care for the sick, deliver babies, and comfort the vulnerable, often at personal risk.”
“Our tradition embrace handshaking especially among men, one must wash his or her hand properly before and after any importance activities, even handles of doors can carry germs that will be transferred from one person to another.”
She urged institutions including schools, companies, churches, mosques, market places, banks, households and other public places to have hand-washing bowls to enable individuals to wash their hands regularly under running water to promote personal hygiene.
The Ghana Health Service also noted that good hand hygiene practices helped reduce antimicrobial resistance (AMR) by preventing infections as well as reducing the overuse of antibiotics.
Health authorities stressed that proper hand hygiene required an enabling environment, including clean running water, soap, alcohol-based hand rub, and well-equipped facilities, and urged government and partners to invest in the resources.
Officials also expressed hope that the observance would inspire a lasting culture of hand hygiene consciousness and stated that clean hands were a moral responsibility for all in saving lives and building healthier communities.
The World Hand Hygiene Day celebrated on Tuesday, May 5, was marked under the global theme “Action Saves Lives-Safer Care Starts with Clean Hands.”
GNA
Edited by Maxwell Awumah/Linda Asante Agyei