Chuchuliga: WaterAid Ghana, a Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) focused organization, has highlighted the critical role of regular handwashing with soap as a fundamental and cost-effective measure to prevent infections and promote public health. The organization calls on Ghanaians to adopt handwashing as a lifelong habit, ingrained in the national culture, and emphasizes the need for investment to promote handwashing with soap under clean running water at all levels.
According to Ghana News Agency, the emphasis on hand hygiene was made during a community durbar at Chuchuliga in the Builsa North Municipality, marking Global Handwashing Day 2025. Ms. Fauzia Aliu, the Advocacy, Campaigns and Inclusion Manager of WaterAid Ghana, speaking on behalf of Ms. Ewurabena Yanyi-Akofur, the Country Director, insisted that clean hands should be considered a basic right for all individuals. She highlighted that handwashing with soap at critical times-after using the toilet, before eating, and before handling food-remains a straightforward yet life-saving practice.
"Clean hands protect mothers and newborns, keep children in school, and uphold the dignity of every woman and girl," Ms. Aliu stated, underscoring that making handwashing a daily habit helps prevent infections and fosters healthier, stronger communities.
The event, themed 'Be a Handwashing Hero - Clean Hands Are Within Reach!', was part of the Sexual Health and Reproductive Education (SHARE) Project. This initiative is implemented by a consortium led by Right to Play in partnership with WaterAid Ghana, FHI 360, and the Forum for African Women Educationalists Ghana (FAWE-Ghana), funded by Global Affairs Canada. Ms. Aliu elaborated that the SHARE Project integrates hygiene, menstrual health, and sexual and reproductive health education in schools and communities, empowering youth and women's groups to advocate for hygiene financing and accountability.
She commended traditional authorities, teachers, and students for promoting handwashing and positive hygiene practices, urging households, schools, and health facilities to maintain and utilize handwashing facilities consistently. "Being a handwashing hero means taking responsibility, ensuring that facilities like tippy-taps and Veronica buckets are not just built for show but are maintained and used every day," she added.
The durbar, which gathered chiefs, queen mothers, women and youth groups, pregnant women, health workers, teachers, and students, was organized with the Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA), the Builsa North Municipal Assembly, and the Ghana Health Service (GHS). Nationally, the event was held in collaboration with the Ministry of Works and Housing, the Ministry of Water Resources, and the Ministry of Local Government, Decentralisation and Rural Development.
Mr. Cabral Bantiu, the Builsa North Municipal Director of the Ghana Health Service, noted that regular handwashing with soap under running water could significantly reduce cases recorded at health facilities. He urged traditional authorities to leverage their influence to educate their communities about the importance of handwashing, emphasizing that a healthy population boosts productivity.
Ms. Herbertta Simpson, Senior Extension Services Specialist, representing Mr. Emmanuel Oppong, the Acting Regional Director of the CWSA, encouraged women to spearhead the handwashing campaign as they and their children are more susceptible to infections.
Nab Francis Akambegmi Asangalisah II, Chief of Chuchuliga, praised the initiatives promoting hand hygiene among his subjects but called for more investment in maternal and child health, particularly the construction of a children's ward for the Chuchuliga Health Centre.