Our hands, gateways for disease transmission – Amasiana

ANAMBRA State Government has charged the people to imbibe the culture of hand washing as it is the major way of avoiding transmission of diseases.

  The State Hygiene Officer, Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency (RUWASSA), Dr Rose Amasiana,  gave this charge during the 2019 Global Hand washing .

  Dr Amasiana, observed that handwashing is very important to all, especially the children as their hands provide a gateway to contacting diseases, like diarrhea, dysentery, intestinal worms, avian or swine flu, among others.

  While noting that the theme for this year’s Global Handwashing, which is “Clean Hands for All,” stared that government’s choice of the students who were selected from schools in the area was because they were the change agents.

  Also speaking, the programme manager for RUWASSA, Emeka Okwuogu, observed that almost four million children are killed yearly by cholera in developing countries, saying that hands are principal carriers of the disease.

  According to Okwuogu, “there is need for promotion of handwashing under running water with soap or ash, which is among the most effective and cheapest preventive measures employed. Washing hands with water alone, which is a common practice among many people in this part of the world is not enough.”

  Commissioner for Public Utilities and Water Resources, Emeka Ezenwanne, in a closing remark, said the present administration had made considerable investments into the water, sanitation and hygiene sector in both the rural and urban communities in the state.

  According to him, “most of the water schemes have been made operational and others are at different stages of completion.”

  “Motorised boreholes and toilet facilities are constructed in areas with high population of vulnerable groups, such as primary and secondary schools, Primary health care centres, markets, etc.”

  “The choose your project initiative of the present administration has seen some communities complement the efforts of the state government in this regards,” he added.