By James Mwale

Ntchisi, June 6, Mana: WaterAid has launched a Water, Hygiene, and Sanitation promotion campaign, branded “Mudzi Uwale” and “Chipatala Chobeba,” in Ntchisi District, to encourage hygiene practices in health facilities, communities, and households.

The launch follows WaterAid’s construction of toilets and a water supply system at Sambakunsi Maternity wing whose operations have been at a standstill due to lack of the same.

Speaking during the launch at Chandulu Primary School grounds in Traditional Authority (TA) Sambakunsi on Thursday, the organization’s Head of Business Development and Partnerships, Clement Ndiwo Banda, urged local authorities to take a leading role in ensuring that the campaign lives up to its objectives.

He said: “Promotion of health through hygiene practices like clean disposal of waste, access to clean potable water, and adherence to sanitation discipline are at the core of this campaign and we need proactive interventions from local authorities if we are to succeed.

“Senior Chiefs and local authorities need to take the lead as champions of hygiene, and that is why we have set up a competition where best-performing villages in advocating and implementing pro-hygiene activities will be awarded trophies and prizes.

Speaking earlier, Traditional Authority Sambakunsi underscored the need for hygiene in development, saying it is only healthy community members that can actively participate in development activities and that no one can talk about good health without mentioning hygiene.

“Hygiene is at the centre of human existence, and people, or place, without hygiene practices becomes a laughing stalk. It is a healthy citizenry that can strike impactful development, and it is in this respect that the coming of WaterAid with this campaign cannot be overemphasized,” he said, further committing himself to see through the campaign’s success.

According to the district’s Health Promotions Officer, Frank Kaphaso, 35 percent of cases that visit hospitals are infections from unhygienic practices hence practice of hygiene could help decongest hospitals by 35 percent.

Also present at the ceremony was the district council’s chairperson, Mark Mphenzi Ntengo, who commended WaterAid for the campaign and urged other organizations to emulate the gesture, saying the district needed such initiatives.

Sambakunsi becomes the seventh health facility, among them Ntchisi District Hospital, in which WaterAid has intervened with Water, Sanitation and Hygiene initiatives with funding from Wimbledon Foundation.