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Access to WASH, key to achieving enhanced hand hygiene, SDGs – WaterAid

Access to Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) services at all levels is a critical catalyst to attaining enhanced hand hygiene and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), WaterAid Ghana, a WASH-focused organization, has said.

Date Created : 10/17/2023 12:00:00 AM : Story Author : Anthony Adongo Apubeo/Ghanadistricts.com

It said achieving SDG six, which puts emphasis on ensuring all persons at all levels had access to water and sanitation by 2030, would propel the achievement of the remaining SDGs and bridge inequality.

Ms. Fauzia Aliu, the Acting Policy Advocacy, Campaigns, and Research Manager, of WaterAid Ghana, who made these remarks, underscored the urgent need for all stakeholders to prioritize the provision of WASH services to all facilities and communities, to ensure people practice enhanced hygiene.

She was speaking during the marking of this year’s Global Handwashing Day, organized by WaterAid Ghana and held at Wuru, a suburb of Kayoro in the Kassena-Nankana West District of the Upper East Region.

It was part of the implementation of the Sexual Health and Reproductive Education (SHARE) project, funded by Global Affairs.

This year’s Global Handwashing Day is commemorated on the theme: “Clean hands are within reach.”

Ms. Aliu indicated that handwashing was critical to preventing infections, and diseases and promoting good health and urged all stakeholders to work towards creating an enabling environment to promote regular handwashing and hygiene practices.

“If we focus on prevention, we will be able to save loads of funds that go into curative relief, relieve pressures on hospitals, and healthcare providers and prevent people’s economic activities from suffering,” she said.

She said WaterAid had been working over the years to alleviate people from poverty through access to enhanced WASH at entry points and stakeholders at all levels including the community level must work together to support the drive.

“We have moved from providing infrastructure to also engaging district, regional and national level stakeholders to improve policies that will provide us with efficient service delivery at facilities, schools, and community levels.

She said WaterAid Ghana would continue to complement the effort of the government to ensure that all persons irrespective of their locations had access to WASH to help achieve SDG six and called for collective responsibility from all stakeholders.

Mr. Alhassan Lawal, the Kassena-Nankana West District Director of the Ghana Health Service, said hand washing was key to preventing the spread of germs, ensuring public health, and saving lives and called for intensified advocacy for stakeholders to prioritize hand washing.

He lauded the efforts of WaterAid Ghana for contributing to ensuring access to WASH services, especially at the healthcare facilities over the years, describing it as a “transformative impact” which had fostered a culture of change in hygiene practices.

In a speech read on his behalf, Mr. Gerard Ataogye, the District Chief Executive for the Kassena-Nankana West, commended WaterAid Ghana for making a lasting impact in the lives of the people in the district and assured the Assembly’s commitment to working with development partners to ensuring access to WASH for all persons.

He urged the people to adhere to hand-washing practices to prevent illness and help save lives.

Pe Oscar Batabi Tiyiamu, the Paramount Chief of the Kayoro Traditional Area, thanked WaterAid Ghana for the provision of water systems in the traditional area and appealed for more water systems as many of the community were still without potable water.