The major avenue through which communicable diseases are spread faces immediate suffocation with the Ministry of Water and Environment’s launch of the ‘I wash, You wash’ (IWYW) campaign.
In close collaboration with key allies chiefly Harris International, Quality Supermarket, Rotary club of Naalya, the Ministry of Water and Environment on Monday flagged off a coutrywide hand washing sensitization campaign at Quality supermarket Naalya, to promote sanitation and personal hygiene among Ugandan citizens.
The grand campaign codenamed ‘I Wash You Wash’ (IWYW) which was launched during a press conference on Monday was intended to inspire the private sector and other stakeholders in the sanitation space, to join government in popularizing regular hand washing with soap, such that the practice is largely embraced in communities, learning institutions and homes.
In this campaign, the Water Ministry is aiming to achieve a target of having the greatest margin of the population embrace regular hand washing with soap by 2030.
While addressing a press conference at Quality Supermarket Naalya on Monday, Ms. Martha Naigaga, the sanitation coordinator in the Ministry of Water and Environment implored key players in the sanitation space, to quickly join government in promoting citizens’ hygiene through emphasizing regular hand washing with soap.
She clearly explained that it is extremely difficult to have this initiative largely embraced by the population, if government receives no helping hand in terms of sensitization efforts from key players in the sanitation space, chiefly the private sector.
“You realize as government we cannot go at it alone. And we will not be reaching everywhere and telling everyone to wash their hands unless we have everybody participating at their own level in the community at corporate level, at their workplaces, at schools, at health care facilities and everybody everywhere,” Ms. Naigaga emphasized.
The hand washing initiative will gain traction, she said, with key support from the corporate society and the private sector. With this in mind, she expressed optimism with the campaign, saying it will soon yield impressive results, which will be a credit to the Water Ministry that is mandated to supply water throughout the country.
Also while addressing the press conference at Quality supermarket Naalya, Engineer Olweny Lamu, the Assistant Commissioner Rural Water and Sanitation Department in the Ministry of Water and Environment said regular hand washing plays a vital role in increasing the longevity of human life.
He reminded Ugandans that it was regular hand washing that helped the nation to bring down infections for both Covid-19 and Ebola Virus Disease (EVD). He also emphasized that proper hygiene will help curtail household expenditures in form of buying drugs for communicable diseases, which can be prevented through regular hand washing with soap and other detergents.
“You know that about 75% of all the diseases we have in this country, the disease burden is because of hygiene, most of it is associated with the hand washing. So if you can wash your hands well with soap you can avoid 75% of the diseases and then your expenditure in as far as health aspects are concerned will be reduced,” Engineer Olweny explained.
Ms. Maureen Tumwebaze Kawombe, the President Rotary Club of Naalya implored responsible stakeholders and other like-minded people to donate items like soap to the underprivileged, most especially children and mothers to strengthen their resolve in ensuring personal hygiene, vital for curtailing the spread of communicable diseases.
“We have mobilized various resources from our club members but also from the communities in which we come from in a way of disease prevention and treatment because we know that if children, mothers and families are not participating in this practice of handwashing, then they are at risk of having disease, ” Ms. Tumwebaze said.
It is important to note that Harris International joined the campaign to perpetuate the aspect of environmental conservation, through donating waste disposal and recycling bins that will be put in place, in different schools where hand washing is being promoted.
“Disposing of waste properly has to be part of you from when you’re young. When you finish opening this soap, what do you do with the packaging? We want these kids to know from a young age, the fact that they have to protect the environment, they have to keep it clean. by disposing of waste properly nationwide,” said Ishta Atukunda, the Public Relations Manager for Harris International.
Irene Mutoni, the Public Relations lead at Quality Supermarket decried the abandonment of regular hand washing with soap by citizens due to a lapse in Covid-19 and Ebola infections, noting that such inconsistences expose people to health disasters.
She implored clients of Quality Supermarket to take part in this campaign, by buying a bar of soap and donating a piece to needy households at different connection points of their branches in Naalya, Lubowa, Kitende and old Kampala.
The ‘I wash You Wash’ Campaign tailored towards garnering the support of every stakeholder in the sanitation space to promote hand washing with soap, is majorly focused on Karamoja Subregion residents, because the percentage of handwashing is at its lowest in the area , equaling to only 16%.
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