By Ernest Mfunya

Mangochi, May 7, Mana. WaterAid Malawi on Tuesday commemorated World Hand Hygiene Day in Mangochi, to educate communities on the importance of handwashing with soap in preventing diseases related to poor hygiene.

Speaking during the event at Nangalamu Health Centre ground, Senior Medical Officer for Mangochi District Hospital, Dr Salimu Kaunda, said that the day encourages practices like hand washing with soap, thereby reducing infection, promoting public health and global action toward improved health outcomes.

"Hand hygiene is a crucial component of our health systems. Most illnesses we see in health facilities are due to infections that can be prevented through simple hygiene practices like handwashing with clean water and soap," said Kaunda.

He noted that for the past years, Mangochi has grappled with various diseases such as cholera outbreaks, diarrhoea and others that come due to poor hygiene and drinking unsafe water. 

WaterAid Malawi hygiene specialist, Maria Soko, noted that Malawi has been severely affected by cholera and other diseases linked to poor hygiene.

"We wanted people to understand the importance of hand hygiene in the prevention of diseases related to poor hygiene.  We might use other measures like gloves, but hand hygiene surpasses everything," said Soko.

She added that the organization was building sanitation facilities such as toilets and bathrooms in hospitals and providing communities with clean and safe water to promote public health and prevent diseases.

Patuma Mamu, a resident of Group Village Headman Chikamba in the district said that through the interventions, she has learnt how she can protect her family from diseases linked to poor hygiene by using safe and clean water, washing hands with soap after using the toilet, before preparing food and other practices.

During the commemoration, WaterAid handed over sanitation facilities such as buckets and sanitisers to four health facilities, including Nangalamu.

Being observed under the theme "it might be gloves. It's always hand washing" this year, World Hand Hygiene Day is commemorated each year on 5 May to maintain a global profile on the importance of hand hygiene in health care and to ‘bring people together’ in support of hand hygiene improvement globally.