A General Physician, Dr Tunji Akintade, has appealed to the three tiers of government to re-enact policies and facilities that would promote the culture of hand washing in communities.
Akintade, former Chairman, Association of Nigerian Private Medical Practitioners (ANPMP), said this in an interview on Sunday, May 5, 2024, in Lagos, to commemorate the World Hand Hygiene Day.
The World Hand Hygiene Day, celebrated annually on May 5, aims at maintaining a global profile on the importance of hand hygiene in health care and to bring people together in support of hand hygiene improvement worldwide.
The theme for the 2024 celebration is “Promoting Knowledge and Capacity Building of Health and Care Workers, Through Innovative and Impactful Training and Education, on Infection Prevention and Control, Including Hand Hygiene”.
Akintade noted that regular and proper handwashing was crucial to promoting good health by preventing many potential health conditions.
According to him, awareness on regular and proper hand hygiene should be intensified, as done during COVID-19 pandemic, to prevent a range of infectious diseases.
He called for inter-agency collaboration involving Ministries of Health, Education and Environment, to strengthen awareness and encourage everyone to incorporate hand hygiene into their daily lives as a non-negotiable routine.
“Removing germs through handwashing is the first line of Defence against diarrhea, cholera and respiratory infections.
“As a country, we have suffered several recurring disease outbreaks, which can be prevented by optimising hygiene.
“We need to reintroduce the culture of regular handwashing into every part of the society starting from homes, schools to public facilities, just as we did during COVID-19,” he said.
Akintade also called for strengthened infection prevention and control (IPC) measures, training and retraining of healthcare workers on standard safety precautions and reminders pasted around hospitals.
“Hand hygiene saves millions of lives every year when performed regularly, properly, and at the right times in healthcare facilities,” he said.
He appealed to the government to prioritise Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) as a critical mechanism for improving public health and safeguarding against future health crises.
“Many households lack access to WASH and this is a major factor responsible for most of the disease outbreaks across the country.
“Many healthcare facilities also lack adequate WASH services, placing healthcare providers and patients at increased risk of healthcare-associated infections,” he said.
By Oluwafunke Ishola
