Kenya gears up for the Global Hand washing Day celebrations

By Elisha Kamau

As Kenya gears up to mark the annual Global Hand washing  Day celebrations on October 15, 2012, nothing would give Dr. Kepha Ombacho more delight than to achieve 100 per cent water and sanitation in Kenya.

Dr. Kepha Ombacho, Chief Public Health Officer, Ministry of Public Health & Sanitation is the man behind implementation of reforms in the country to enhance health and hygiene.

He notes that his dream will come true when every Kenyan acknowledges the link between preventable diseases and poor hygiene and work towards a healthier society.

“This is the fifth birthday of Global Hand washing  Day and one key achievement that Kenya will be celebrating year is the strong connection that has been built between hand washing  with soap and the bigger picture of water and sanitation,” said Dr. Ombacho.

This year, there has been a significant reduction of diarrheal related diseases in the country as compared to last year. 

Through an already established National Hygiene Technical Working Group under the Ministry of Public Health & Sanitation, there has been a strong partnership bond between the Ministry and private sector partners  such as Unilever Lifebuoy, Proctor & Gamble, Reckitt Benckiser, UNICEF among others.

There has been a concerted effort on hand hygiene education with partners in Kenya. Various private player partners have undertaken various hygiene programmes.
“We worked with The Ministry of Education, Water Sanitation for the Urban Poor and Lifebuoy Kenya to roll out a hand washing  programme – School of 5 in close to 500 schools this year with the aim of educating school children on the importance of hand washing  with soap at key occasions and proper hand washing  techniques,” says Dr. Ombacho.

So far the campaign has enrolled over 300,000 school children as change agents in hand washing  with soap.

“Children are always keen in learning new habits while young,” says Dr. Ombacho.

Children like to reverse roles with adults as they get to dictate the terms as opposed to being dictated to all the time. They are change agents if Kenya is to make hand washing  an automatic behaviour by 2015.

“Global Hand washing  Day is a calendar event in the global health sector that seeks to raise public awareness on the importance of hand washing  with soap as a disease prevention strategy,” adds Dr. Ombacho.

The most important aspect as we mark this year’s Global Hand washing  Day is changing the thinking of Kenyans on the importance of hand washing  with soap. Data from the Global Hand washing  Day website indicate that lack of soap is not a significant barrier to hand washing  hand washing  with soap at home.

In Kenya for instance, 97% of households have access to soap. The problem is that soap is rarely used for hand washing . It is more often used for laundry, bathing and washing dishes.

This year, we will be celebrating Global Hand washing  Day in Nyeri under the theme – help more children reach their 5th birthday. Close to 1.1m people succumb to diarrheal diseases globally while over 82 people in Kenya succumb every day due to the same. We are celebrating five years of children that are turning five years this October.

"Most diseases affecting Kenyans are preventable with proper use of toilets and hand washing with soap," says Dr Ombacho .