Hand hygiene: our future is at hand

This article was initially published in the Zambia Daily Mail Newspaper on 15th October 2021 to commemorate the World Handwashing Day but its relevance hasn't diminished a single bit. 

The COVID-19 era, many public and private institutions had put up handwashing facilities at the entrance of their premises. Standing there to observe the number of people washing their hands as they enter or exit and that gave you a real picture of the battle around social and behaviour change relating to hand hygiene.   

If you took the trouble to check, you may find some of those buckets have not had water in a very long time. Neither is there soap. But for the sake of being seen to be compliant, the buckets still stand.

Handwashing is a simple yet powerful act of hygiene behaviour crucial for the prevention of diseases. Handwashing was important before COVID-19 arrived but has now taken on added importance in view of the pandemic.

According to the Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP, 2021), a UN mechanism that provides regular global reports on water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) coverage, around 51 percent or over nine million Zambians lack access to any form of handwashing facilities at home.  

Another 82 per cent or over 15 million lack availability of a handwashing facility with soap and water at home. If this sounds farfetched, it may be because you are part of the 18 per cent that have access to a handwashing facility with clean water and soap.

The choice to have a handwashing facility is an investment decision by a household bordering on finance. Hence the reason majority making up the 82 per cent are found in rural areas and poor communities of urban areas.

For the first time in many years, Zambia did not record cholera cases this year. Though an inquiry is needed to establish this, we can argue that there has been a considerable improvement in hand hygiene necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic. This has broken the fecal–oral route that causes cholera. However, cholera remains a risk unless the underlying WASH vulnerabilities - lack of access to safe drinking water and adequate sanitation - are addressed.

Whilst water and sanitation infrastructure provide the physical conditions for hygiene, it is the sustained good hygiene behaviours that help prevent the transmission of diseases. Handwashing with soap and clean water, together with other public health interventions, has proved key in reducing the transmission of COVID-19.

Caused by poor hygiene, including poor handwashing behaviours, diarrheal diseases are a leading cause of stunting among children under the age of five in Zambia. That is why it is important for all members of the household to ensure they have a clean environment and wash their hands at critical times such as after using the toilet, after changing baby nappies, before breastfeeding, after cleaning a toilet, before preparation and consumption of food, and after coughing, sneezing, or blowing their nose.

Improved hygiene behaviours reduce chances of transmitting diseases, thereby contributing to a disease-free community and the healthy growth of children.

Global Handwashing Day is a day commemorated annually on 15 October to raise public awareness on making handwashing with soap and clean water available globally, especially in public places. It also calls for institutions and individuals to improve hand hygiene efforts in the COVID-19 response that can outlast the pandemic and ensure continued access to clean water and soap.

In 2021, the theme was “Our Future is at Hand – Let’s Move Forward Together”

Since the creation of Global Handwashing Day in 2008, the Government of Zambia began implementing policies and programs that promote handwashing with soap. Handwashing stations have been integrated into the national Community-Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) program, an innovative methodology for mobilizing communities to take leadership in raising sanitation standards in their localities.

One of the organisations supporting the government’s WASH efforts is the Scaling Nutrition Technical Assistance (SUN TA) Project funded by the United States government. By working with District WASH committees in 13 districts (Mumbwa, Chibombo, Kabwe, Kapiri Mposhi, Ndola, Kitwe, Samfya, Nchelenge, Kaputa, Luwingu, Mbala and Kasama), the project has trained government staff and community volunteers to deliver key messages on improved sanitation and hygiene even before COVID-19 arrived.

In addition to providing handwashing facilities to the 390 health centres where it is working in, the project is also rehabilitating 700 and constructing 300 boreholes and 26 water schemes to increase access to clean and safe water, key to the attainment of improve sanitation and hygiene. Also, 390 Area Pump Menders have also been trained and given tools to support their continuous operation and maintenance of these water points.

That year’s commemoration of the Global Handwashing Day offered each one of us an opportunity to spread the word about handwashing and contribute to behaviour change on hand hygiene.

The private sector and donors should invest in national roadmaps, hygiene strategies, and research, as well as programs that are hygiene sensitive, promote sustainable behaviour change and drive hand hygiene habits. Businesses should contribute towards resilient hand hygiene systems through partnerships, financing, and innovative products and facilities and again promote hand hygiene within their workforce.

If there is anything COVID-19 taught us, it is the need for collective actions to address the historic neglect of hand hygiene investments, policies, and programs. Our future is at hand, let us move forward together.

Remember to wash your hands today and every day.