Dr. Leticia Adelaide Appiah, Executive Director of the National Population Council, encourages hand washing as a habit to help maintain the health benefits of the practise.
Beyond being a process strictly followed during the COVID-19 epidemic in 2020, she added that it was critical to maintain such practise in order to record other victories in cholera outbreak prevention.
"It is important for us to make hand washing a habit beyond COVID-19; it is an intervention that has also seen a steady decline in cases of some communicable diseases," Appiah stated in an interview with the Daily Graphic.
Concern
In an interview, the NPC Executive Director stated that the reason behind her call was the discovery that individuals had left the routine of washing hands because COVID-19 was no longer a danger.
"It is sad that because of a decline in COVID-19 cases, the general population has already ceased often washing their hands with soap and running water before going to public events.
The procedure goes well beyond serving as a COVID-19 protocol.
"Hand washing helps to a very large extent to prevent many other threats to one's well-being," she emphasised.
0 cholera
Dr. Appiah emphasised that the government's capacity to record zero cases of the disease during the COVID-19 epidemic was due to the practise of hand washing implemented as an intervention. He said that regular hand washing had safeguarded the country from infectious diseases like cholera.
"The country has not registered a case of cholera since 2020. Cholera had its biggest outbreak in 2014, when eight out of ten areas were impacted.
She stated that this was, in part, education aimed at encouraging individuals to wash their hands frequently and maintain a sanitary atmosphere.
She emphasised that it was more about actions than speech or intentions, noting that given how cholera and other associated diseases like diarrhoea spread, it was crucial for people to practise hand washing to sustain the existing condition.
Because of hand washing, cholera has been eradicated.
We achieve the best outcomes when we act morally.
Our intentions don't affect how these illnesses behave; it's what we do and the results that count, she added.
Collateral benefit
Dr. Appiah said that the absence of cholera cases in the nation was a benefit and remarked that, prior to the epidemic that hit in 2019, most people did not give hand washing much concern.
"However, the pandemic brought to light the significance of hand washing, which is not only a simple, cost-effective, and straightforward approach to prevent the transmission of infections but also a life-saving practise and one that does not create any inconvenience.
In order to make it easier for people to wash their hands, the NPC Executive Director urged the development of hand washing facilities at the doors of institutions, organisations, and all other public areas.
When they get to certain locations, they wash their hands.
We should offer facilities for hand washing and urge ourselves to develop the habit of washing our hands, just as we were able to make sure visitors to our location did so.
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