Adequate sanitation and good hygiene are essential to good health and socio-economic development, stakeholders have said.

They said the lack of proper sanitation caused diseases and reduce the quality and functions of life.

The stakeholders were speaking at a two-day seminar on Hand Hygiene and a Pre-liminary Exhibition of sanitation and Hand Hygiene Products dubbed Mini Akoben Hand Hygiene Fair.

The Ghana Enterprises Agency organised the fair in collaboration with the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources, UNICEF and partners in the WASH sector.

Mrs Kosi Yankey-Ayeh, the Chief Executive Officer GEA, said the global COVID-19 Pandemic, in addition to the other communicable diseases, was a jolting reminder of the need for a joint effort to work expeditiously towards attaining the target of Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG 6).

The SDG 6 requires that by 2030, all achieve access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene.

She said problems with sanitation services had led to the increasing awareness that the private sector was needed to tackle sanitation service challenges.

"The high rate spread of the Corona Virus and its effects has no doubt given Ghana the opportunity to build on and make handwashing a social norm in this crisis period and also during the recovery and post recovery periods," she said.

This means making sustainable hand hygiene products and services such as improved handwashing facilities, regular supply of water, soap and hand sanitizers, available and accessible for all at all times.

She said the government acknowledged the importance of the private sector in the sanitation fight.

"The role of the Private Sector particularly MSMEs is to contribute to building a strong and sustainable local market, providing inspirational and affordable products and services for all contexts and settings without compromising on quality."

She said while sanitation was challenging, businesses were not yet operating at the scale required to achieve SDG 6.

The Private sector players including the manufacturers of various sanitation products have a major role to play within our context.

Through our collaboration with UNICEF, under the GoG-WASH SanMark Project, we have supported various beneficiaries in the 5 selected Project regions through various interventions.

About 300 Village Savings and Loans Association (VSLA) have been supported with various forms of Business Development Service (BDS) support and 267 Latrine Artisans have also been trained, counselled and registered, 30 latrine artisans from Yendi, Kadjebi and Kpandai have been trained in the Kaizen Concept to quality and Productivity –and 30 welders selected across the country trained in Kaizen.

"We are also gradually gaining an understanding of the sector and will continue to shape our approach towards support for private sector players in the sanitation sector."

Our model for a coordinated support for MSMEs within the sector revolves around these key actions; Engage the private sector as a key partners for scalable, sustainable WASH solutions.

It is also to help stimulate local markets and homegrown private sector solutions for WASH, host open innovation competitions to find market-led WASH solutions and train our Staff on the dynamics of the WASH sector and the business opportunities therein.

She said the GEA, in collaboration with KNUST, UNICEF and other partners organise a sanitation challenge which will showcase various innovations for sanitation and Hand hygiene developed by Ghanaian Entrepreneurs.

Mr Attah Arhin, Chairman of Coniwas, urged stakeholders to take advantage of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and the first GHANA AKOBEN HAND HYGIENE FAIR to rediscover national consciousness regarding the importance of hand hygiene to building resilience in health and socio-economic development.

He called for steps towards greater prioritization and increased investment to achieve lasting results.

Activities planned for the two days include; the Mini Hand Hygiene Fair which is a prelude to the main event slated for October, 2021 to provide a platform for government to engage the Private Sector in support of the hand hygiene drive and to foster a collaboration between the WASH Sector and the Private Sector.

The main goal of this fair is to facilitate improved production and supply chain for affordable and accessible hand hygiene products in Ghana.

This Hand Hygiene seminar is intended to foster Public-partnerships and the orientation on the concept of Quality and Productivity improvement known as the Kaizen Concept.

It is aimed to introduce producers and manufacturers to useful tools and resources for improving productivity level, quality and efficiency, reducing costs, eliminating losses, enhancing job security, ensuring quick delivery of products and greater customer satisfaction.