By Beatrice Bangula

Blantyre, April 10, Mana: Blantyre District Health Office (DHO) in partnership with Farmers Union of Malawi (FUM) have embarked on a sanitation and hygiene sensitization campaign in Blantyre rural to mobilize communities to adhere to hygiene and sanitation measures in their homes.

On Wednesday, Blantyre DHO and FUM extension workers were in Lemu, Kuntaja, M’dala and Thanganyika Village Development Communities (VDCs) under Traditional Authority (TA) Kuntaja sensitizing people on importance of clean water and adequate pit latrines, sanitation facility placed outside latrines locally called Mpondagiya among others.

Chileka Seventh Day Health Centre, Health Surveillance Assistant (HSA), Moreen Mofolo                                                    said sanitation and hygiene practices are sure ways of attaining happy and healthy families.

“We are encouraging every household to have a pit latrine and too consistently use them and soon we will be going door to door to make sure every home is following what we are advocating,” she said.

FUM, Nutrition Field Facilitator, Shynete Botopman said the union understands that only healthy families work in their homes and fields, saying this was key to health living at household and national level.

“The campaign is being conducted under a two years Thanzi Project targeting four VDCs where Thanzi project is being implemented. The aim of Thanzi Project is to reduce malnutrition in pregnant women and among under five children and for this to be achieved there is a need of adhering to good sanitation and hygiene practices,” she added.

Botomani observed that if people eat all the six food groups without practicing good hygiene and sanitation, all is in vain because they will be infected by food and water borne diseases.

Community member of Thanganyika Village, TA Kuntaja, Innocent Kankwa observed that most households in his area are affected by diseases that are associated by poor hygiene due to lack of latrines and failure to abide by hygienic measures.

“Many diseases are caused when households fail to abide by hygiene measurers and lack of latrines. Some defecate in bushes and this pose serious health problems,” he added.

The campaign comes amid rising cases of pink eye infection in the country and Blantyre District in particular with health experts encouraging good hygiene practices as the main preventive measure.

Blantyre DHO and FUM are holding the mass awareness on hygiene with funding Radio Aid