From James Nwakpa
As Ebonyians join other members of the global community to observe this year's hand-washing day, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has advised members of the public to cultivate the habitat of regular hand washing as a means of curtailing the outbreak of diseases in the society.
The USAID State2State in their advocacy visit to Nkaliki, the headquarters of Abakaliki Local Government Council stressed the need for personal and environmental hygiene as a panacea for achieving healthy living.
Speaking on the topic tagged "clean hands, a recipe for health: focuses on the links between hand washing and food, including food hygiene and nutrition", the resource person and HOD Water and Sanitation Hygiene (WASH) in Ebonyi L.G.A, Sanitarian Loveth Nwazunku said that the essence of the sensitization exercise was to intimate the people of the area of the need to prevent infectious diseases that can be transmitted as a result of poor hand washing practices.
In her part, the Grants Specialist in State2State USAID projects in Ebonyi State, Ambassador Perpetual Chukwumezie called for citizens' and stakeholders' participation in promoting the culture of regular hand washing with soap and running water.
Also, the Monitoring and Evaluation Officer of the USAID State2State working for Widows and Orphans Empowerment Organization, Mr Franklin Nebo, called on the government at all levels to provide water and sanitary facilities in the schools and other public institutions to help in the actualization of regular hand washing and other hygienic practices in Ebonyi State.
Others who spoke during the sensitization exercise, including the USAID State2State Executive Director of the Parent/Child Intervention Centre in Ebonyi State, Mrs Peggy Chukwuemeka and the Ebonyi North Zonal Coordinator of Persons with Disabilities, Mr Moses Nwalo noted that the activities of USAID have helped the people of Ebonyi State, especially in the area of Water and Sanitation Hygiene (WASH) and active participation in the government's budget plannings and decision making process through stakeholders engagements and Community of Chatter Demands (CCD) training.
Recall that global hand washing day is celebrated yearly on the evthe5th of October since 2008 when over 120 million children from more than 70 countries of the world washed their hands with water and soap.
