Veronica Bucket inventor seeks government support for patenting

The biological scientist who invented the buckets fitted with taps for handwashing everywhere, particularly in areas without running water, Mrs Veronica Bekoe, has said she will be happy if the government helps in patenting her invention.

The buckets, invented about 30 years ago for hand hygiene and the prevention of infections in medical laboratories, took the name of the inventor, hence Veronica Buckets.

“I am not trying to take advantage of an unfortunate situation with the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) that has resulted in the mass production and use of the buckets everywhere. However, my call is to set out the fact that the invention is mine,” she told the Daily Graphic in an interview at her residence in Accra yesterday.

She indicated that although she had begun the process to patent her innovation, the bureaucracy involved in getting it done was daunting and so she gave up.

“At that time, I used to get to the office at 7 a.m. to ensure that all laboratory tests were ready. Being tossed about, with no clarity on how to proceed, was difficult and I could not find the opportunity to continue with it because of work” she said.

“I am very happy about how the Veronica Buckets are contributing to healthcare delivery in the country and even beyond, but it is sad that people, including foreigners, are into its mass production and exportation, without due recognition for my effort,” she added.

Invention

Mrs Bekoe said when she was a young biologist working at the Public Health and Reference Laboratory, Korle Bu, the USAID supported a baseline survey of laboratories and she had to go round with the USAID consultant, the late Joanne Hettrick.

“At the end of each day, we discussed the gaps. Hand hygiene was not the best in the laboratories we visited, as there were risks of infections after working with blood and bodily fluids, without running water to properly clean the hands,” she said.

“I must say that my invention was by divine inspiration, as I wondered one day whether fixing a tap to those aluminium utensils used in selling Hausa koko, popularly known as ‘Akorlaa gyae su’, was not going to be a good solution to the challenge in laboratories.

“I discussed the idea wit my colleague, the late Joanne Hettrick, and she encouraged me to go ahead with it. So I made a prototype — I used aluminium sheets to mould containers and had taps fixed to them. We set them in laboratories and used them to provide running water for handwashing.

“Other health institutions, with running water challenges, adopted them and they subsequently spread all over into restaurants and households,” she added.

She expressed her joy that her small solution to a challenge had gone beyond the laboratory to support public health and hand hygiene nationally and globally, particularly with the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

COVID-19

Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the most communicated message about preventing the disease by international and national health authorities has been the thorough cleaning of the hands by washing them with soap under running water.

To ensure that running water is made available almost everywhere to facilitate the regular washing of hands, Veronica Buckets have become a fixture at the entrances of all public and private institutions.

Plastic manufacturers, such as Duraplast, unaware of who invented the buckets, have mass produced them with their logos embossed on them.

The buckets are also being produced for markets in neighbouring countries such as Cote d’Ivoire as the cases of COVID-19 go up in the sub- region.

Global adoption

Mrs Bekoe’s quest to get all to wash their hands properly and regularly with her invention has earned her a place in the global hall of fame.

Veronica Buckets, her ingenious idea, is detailed on Wikipidea and other international documents on handwashing and hygiene.

Proper handwashing

Mrs Bekoe reiterated the critical role of proper handwashing in the prevention of many health conditions, such as diarrhoea, respiratory, nose, ear, eye and throat infections, as well as the COVID-19.

She said it was commendable that partners in the fight against the COVID-19 were preaching handwashing, but said educational messages had to teach people and emphasise not only handwashing but thorough and proper handwashing.

“Hands not washed well are as dangerous as those not washed at all. We must learn to clean the palms, in between the fingers, the wrist and the fingernails thoroughly by applying friction to the hand in the process of washing,” she said.

Additionally, she said, for the proper washing of hands, either with the traditional running water system or the Veronica Bucket, all had to ensure that the knob of the tap was cleaned with soap while cleaning the hands and rinsed when rinsing the hands for clean hands to turn off a clean tap to reduce contamination.

A tissue could also be used to hold the tap to turn it off after cleaning both hands and tap as an added measure, she taught in demonstration.

Who is Veronica Bekoe?

Veronica Bekoe attended the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology between 1968 and 1972 and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Biology/Biological Sciences.

Until 2008, she worked at the National Public Reference Laboratory, where she became its acting head and focal person for the National AIDS/STI Control Programme (NACP).

It was during her time at the laboratory that she was inspired to invent the Veronica Bucket.

Other great achievements by the inventor are her work, teaching and mentorship in quality laboratory practices in Ghana and across Africa.