Buttressing this assertion is the Global Hand-washing Day which is observed every 15th day of October all over the world. This A common platitude that ‘cleanliness is next to godliness’ shows that even the creator acknowledges and appreciates the act of cleanliness, therefore it bestows on all and sundry to ensure a properly clean and hygienic lifestyle that will make life bearable and healthy living achievable.date was appointed by the United Nations General Assembly at the Annual World Water Week in Stockholm, Sweden. Succinctly put, on this day annually, the universal attention is focused majorly on the need, importance and advantages of washing our hands with soap before and after activities.
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The Global Handwashing Partnership (GHP) established global hand-washing day in 2008 as a way to promote handwashing with soap, encourage school children, teachers and families to get involved. During the first celebration, over 120 million children around the world washed their hands with soap in more than 70 countries. This particular day amongst others is an opportunity to design, test and replicate ways to encourage people to wash their hands with soap at critical times.
Handwashing before and after meal has been part of our culture in Nigeria even before colonialism. This shows that hand-washing is not only applicable to the literate, it should be stated that it is proper to develop hand-washing into a habit as it will consciously keep one immuned against several diseases.
It is expedient to recall the outbreak of the Ebola scare in 2014 during which handwashing with water and soap became the prominent solution to curtail the rampaging spread of the epidemic. People both young and old, literate and illiterate washed their hands whenever they went places like markets, shopping malls, schools, banks, companies, hospitals to mention a few. The several robust campaign machinery put in place by government through the radio, television, billboards, posters and hand bills that handwashing with soap is the easiest, effective and affordable way of not contacting Ebola disease was credence to the fact that handwashing is essential to living.
To this end, stakeholders to include parents, teachers and caregivers should ensure that they instil the need to embrace handwashing regularly before and after every activity to their wards.
Azeezat Folarin, Isale-Igbein, Abeokuta.
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