Handwashing (Photo: credit: Global Handwashing partnership).

A UNICEF official has emphasized on the importance of handwashing and encourages the public to embrace the practice, ahead of the commemoration of the Global Handwashing Day on October 15.

Robert Taban Lominsuk, the agency’s Specialist for Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH), said frequent hands washing is key to protection against many deadly diseases.

Taban also said washing hands with soap is very important to people’s well-being.

“We use our hands for a lot of things when we are eating we use our hands so everything that goes into our body has to go through our hand,” he said.

“And if the hands are not clean, we know whatever dirty things in our hands are germs and pathogens. These are all going into our bodies and they are going to cause sicknesses.”

“That is why this day was set aside and that is why we are talking about it today and that is why the ministry of water resources and irrigation is commemorating this day”.

Global handwashing day is an advocacy day dedicated to creating awareness of the importance of handwashing with soap as an effective and affordable way to prevent diseases and save lives.

It is marked every October 15, to encourage people to wash their hands with soap at critical times.

According to Taban, statistics show proper handwashing with soap reduces diseases by 30 percent.

He also said hepatitis E is currently present in some of the IDP camps, especially in Unity state where he worked for years.

“When we do proper handwashing with soaps we can reduce the real disease by up to 30 percent which is quite huge. We can also reduce acute respiratory infections by up to 20%.”

“Handwashing is also very important in reducing the transmission of outbreak-related   diseases such as cholera, Ebola, Covid-19, and hepatitis E.”

This year’s theme is Unite for Universal Hand Hygiene.