By Kemo Cham
Sierra Leone is among countries with the lowest rates of handwashing, according to the UN agency Unicef.
Unicef said despite the proven benefits associated with handwashing with soap to child health, and its importance in reducing the transmission of deadly diseases, very small amount of people observe the practice in many countries.
Sub – Saharan Africa has the lowest rates among the rest of the world.
Still it is lowest in low-income countries like Sierra Leone, Unicef said, warning that this poses a dangerous prospect for a country highly prone to infectious diseases like cholera and Ebola.
UNicef also said this situation could endanger the new United Nations development agenda.
The eighth Global Handwashing Day, commemorated on October 15, came less than a month after the UN adopted the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and the issue of hygiene made it in the list of the global agenda for the first time.
Goal Six of the SDGs targets achievement of “access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene” by 2030.
High child mortality
7, 800 children die from pneumonia and diarrhea in Sierra Leone every year, according to Unicef. This, the agency say, translates to a daily and monthly deaths of 22 and 660 children respectively.
Unicef cited WHO and UN estimates as sources of these figures.
Diarrheal diseases and respiratory infections are said to be the major contributors to the extremely high child mortality rate in the country.
Experts say these deaths can be reduced by one-half through improved handwashing behaviour.
“From birth – when unwashed hands of birth attendants can transmit dangerous germs – right through babyhood, school and beyond, handwashing is crucial for a child’s health. It is one of the cheapest, simplest, most effective health interventions we have,” Geoff Wiffin, UNICEF Sierra Leone representative, said in a statement in commemoration of the Global Handwashing Day, whose theme this year was: “Raise a Hand for Hygiene”.
UNICEF and partners like WaterAid, Washnet, participated in the events which crucially targeted displaced flood victims at both the national Siaka Stevens Stadium and Atouga Ministadium.
These people used to live in some of the most unhygienic places in the country.
The events for the Global Handwashing Day commemoration also included discussions and performance on the importance of hygiene, bringing together officials from government, UN agencies and development partners.
The Global Public-Private Partnership for Handwashing with Soap initiated the Global Handwashing Day in 2008.
Handwashing was almost unknown in Sierra Leone before the 2014 Ebola outbreak. Unicef puts the pre-Ebola rates at less than 20 per cent. But at the height of the epidemic the practice was made almost compulsory amidst experts` advice that it was one way of preventing infection with the deadly virus.
The so-called Veronica Buckets were placed at almost every entrance of buildings and institutions across the country. In some places the buckets were placed at open places, like sports venues, all geared towards encouraging the habit of handwashing.
But with Ebola almost defeated, the practice seems to be dying out.
Now even some healthcare facilities often lack places for handwashing.
Unicef plans to instill the practice in the young minds. Therefore, beyond the national events, the UN agency says it is directly supporting celebrations of the Global Handwashing Day in 170 primary schools, and at 82 health centres and communities in eight districts, with particular focus on the promotion of mass handwashing among school children and their families.
Across Sub-Saharan Africa, the region with the highest child mortality rates globally, there is a particularly low levels of handwashing.
Unicef cites a joint report with WHO lately indicating that in 38 countries in the region with available data, levels of handwashing were at best 50 per cent.
Indicator for measurement
WaterAid Transboundary, in collaboration with its local partners WASH Net and WASH Media Network, convened programmes at different schools and communities on October 15.
All these partners are seeking, through support from the government, to ensure sustaining handwashing considered as one of the simplest, but most effective tools in the fight against Ebola and preventing deaths from diarrhoea by almost 50%.
The WHO says the provision of soap and improving hygiene practices can cut cases of diarrhoea by up to 53%.
WaterAid pledged to organize a range of nationwide mass media engagements - radio and television talk shows, broadcast and print publications, as well as mass SMS on handwashing. It also planned to embark on schools outreach sessions to raise awareness on the importance of the Global Handwashing Day.
The new United Nations’ Global Goals on Sustainable Development have been agreed on by 191 countries, including Sierra Leone.
Experts and officials from over 100 member countries and UN agencies are expected to assemble in Bangkok, Thailand at the end of October, for the second meeting of the Inter-agency and Expert Group on Sustainable Development Goal Indicators (IAEG-SDGs).
This is scheduled precisely for 26-28 October. They will discuss how to measure progress towards the development targets agreed under the SDGs. Sierra Leone is expected to participate.
WaterAid therefore wants governments to “finish the job” by ensuring an indicator on handwashing is included as a measure of progress for Goal 6.
This, the organization said, is crucial in achieving the full health benefits.
“Every day across the world, 1,400 children under five die from diarrhoea caused by dirty water and poor sanitation and hygiene. We are now one step closer in ensuring such tragedy will be a thing of the past with the recent agreement of the Global Goals, which aim to eradicate extreme poverty by 2030,” said Chuchu Selma, Country Representative for WaterAid Transboundary in Liberia and Sierra Leone.
He warned that there was still work to be done to ensure the world delivers on the potential of these goals.
“Frequently overlooked, hygiene, and in particular handwashing, make a massive difference to the health and wellbeing of the global population. Furthermore, handwashing is recognised as one of the most cost-effective development interventions by the World Bank,” said Mr Selma.
“It is often said that we ‘treasure what we measure’. Given the importance of hygiene, we strongly encourage member states to include an indicator to measure handwashing,” he added.
(C) Politico Online 16/10/15
