Ghana will join the rest of the world on 15th October 2012 to mark the 5th anniversary of Global Hand washing Day aimed at increasing awareness on hand washing with soap as an effective and affordable way to prevent diseases.
A statement from the Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA) said around the world, children, teachers, parents, celebrities, and government officials plan to mobilize and motivate millions to lather up in order to reduce life-threatening diseases, such as diarrhoea and acute respiratory infections.
Hand washing with soap is one of the most effective and inexpensive ways to prevent diarrhoea disease and pneumonia, which together are responsible for approximately 3.5 million child deaths every year.
"Children are highly susceptible to the diseases caused by a lack of effective sanitation and poor hygiene. More than 5,000 children under the age of five die every day as a result of diarrhoea diseases, caused in part by unsafe water, lack of access to basic sanitation facilities and poor hygiene. By washing hands with soap, families and communities can help reduce child mortality rates from diarrhoea diseases by almost 50 per cent and respiratory infections by nearly 25 per cent," the statement said.
The celebration is under the slogan, "Clean hands save lives", which is the driving theme for Global Hand Washing Day.
The celebration revolves around Children, who acting as agents of change, take the good practices of hygiene learnt at school back into their homes and communities.
The statement said hand washing with soap - particularly at critical moments, including after using the toilet and before handling food – is a key cost effective and life-saving intervention.
Lack of soap is usually not the barrier – with the vast majority of even poor households having soap at home – rather, the problem is that soap is rarely used for hand washing.
"In addition to celebrating our 5th anniversary, we want to celebrate the 5th birthday of millions of kids around the world this year."
The event is a part of the Public Private Partnership for Hand Washing With Soap Programme (PPPHW), a joint effort of the Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA), the World Bank, UNICEF, WaterAid, Plan Ghana, Unilever, World Vision, and other public, development and private partners.
The vision of the PPPHW is to make hand washing with soap at critical times the accepted and practised norm among all in Ghana.
The statement said there is nothing like clean set of hands. They smell nice and most importantly prevent diseases.
"Always wash your hands at the critical times- after using the washroom/toilet and before handling food (before cooking, eating and serving others with food, the statement said, urging everyone to get involved in this year's Global Hand washing Day celebrations.