Raising handwashing heroes (1)

Today is Global Handwashing Day.

Though this day reminds us that every clean hand saves a child’s life, we cannot forget so quickly how handwashing saved the human race from total annihilation by the COVID-19 virus.

One would have thought that post COVID, the global handwashing day would have outlived its relevance, considering how we so washed our hands that soap and water became our best friends and hand sanitiser, a loyal travel companion.

But no! Old habits die hard, and many soon went back to their old carefree ways.

The drums must continue to beat to raise awareness that handwashing with soap is one of the simplest, yet most effective ways of preventing disease.

The theme for 2025 is “Be a Handwashing Hero!” This is a rallying call for everyone, including children, parents, teachers, health workers, community and political leaders, to lead by example in promoting hand hygiene.

It isn’t just a call for these persons to wash their own hands, but to ensure that hygiene is accessible, properly practised and entrenched as a habit among children. 

This is because the common diseases of children, such as coughs, colds and diarrhoeal diseases, are often spread via dirty hands.

Among children under five, diarrhoeal diseases and pneumonia are two of the top killers. It is, therefore, important to emphasise handwashing after defecation, before eating, after handling waste or before preparing food.

In places where handwashing with soap is promoted, studies show significant reductions of up to 30–40 per cent in diarrhoeal illness and up to about 20–25 per cent in respiratory infections.  

Frequent illnesses

Frequent illnesses can make children miss school.

Their education suffers, social development is interrupted, and caregivers have to absent themselves from work to follow through with the care.

Implementing good hygiene around meal times and in school washrooms lowers illness rates and consequently improves attendance.

Children who are taught correct, consistent handwashing practices from preschool or early grade levels are more likely to carry them into adulthood.

Such empowered children can be change agents in their schools, communities and among siblings.

This is how handwashing heroes are made. 

The prevention of disease further reduces the need for antibiotics.

Overuse of antibiotics contributes to antimicrobial resistance (AMR), which threatens global health.

Fewer infections mean fewer antibiotic prescriptions and less pressure on developing resistant strains.

To raise handwashing heroes, we need to teach and encourage children to practice handwashing with soap at key moments such as before putting edibles into their mouths, after using the toilet, after coughing or sneezing, after touching animals or waste, and upon returning home from staying out.

It matters that handwashing is done thoroughly with soap. 

Unfortunate

It is unfortunate that many schools, even in the so-called cities, lack access to soap and water at handwashing stations.

Washrooms are a luxury and where they even exist, clean ones are few.

This issue needs to be seriously addressed by parents, teachers and school authorities in order to promote cleanliness and good health.  

Teachers, parents, and older children can teach younger ones how to wash properly — wet, lather, scrub for at least 20 seconds, rinse, and dry.

This year’s theme is an invitation to protect the next generation through positive habits and modelling of hand hygiene practices.

Each child who learns to wash hands properly becomes a strong link in the chain of prevention that saves lives.

Sadly, in Ghana, the simple act of washing hands is becoming harder to sustain.

This is not because people don’t care, but because clean water itself is vanishing.

In part 2 of this article, we explore the roots of this crisis.

Ghana must raise handwashing heroes, but where is the water? 

The writer is a child development expert/Fellow of the Zero-To-Three Academy, USA.

E-mail: nanaesi.gaisie@wellchildhaven.com