By Michael Kofi Kenetey
The Family Strengthening Project, FS under the auspices of the SOS Children’s Villages, Asiakwa in collaboration with the Atiwa East District Health Directorate in the Eastern Region has organized an extensive hand washing and proper sanitation and personal hygiene sensitization programme for two communities in the district.
The two communities that benefited from the programme were Adasawase and New Jejeti in the Atiwa East District. The sensitization programme was aimed at equipping community members with the requisite hand-washing skills and its importance in reducing respiratory and intestinal diseases as well as dengue fever among children and the community at large.
The participants were taken through the importance of proper hand washing, proper hand washing techniques and its types and also how to enhance proper hygiene to reduce the spread of diseases in their communities. The Atiwa East District Public Health Nurse, Wilhelmina Oparebea Appiah noted that proper hand washing prevents the spread of infectious diseases like influenza, diarrhea and respiratory infections as well as dengue fever.
She reiterated that proper hand washing reduces infections from cuts, scrapes and wounds, promoting faster healing and preventing complications adding that proper hand washing and personal hygiene are crucial in protecting vulnerable people like children and the aged whose immune systems are more susceptible to illness, diseases, and infections.
Madam Oparebea Appiah explained dengue fever as a mosquito-borne viral disease that affects people worldwide, particularly in tropical and subtropical regions adding that the Eastern Region has recorded a high number of cases.
She mentioned some symptoms of dengue fever as sudden onset of high fever, severe headache, pain behind the eyes, rashes, nausea and vomiting. The Public Health Nurse stated that the fever can be prevented by eliminating mosquito breeding sites, use of insect repellents and mosquito nets, avoiding staying out late and wearing of protective clothing.
The Community Empowerment Officer of the Family Strengthening Project, under the auspices of SOS Children’s Villages, Asiakwa, Priscilla Kumi emphasized on the need for parents especially mothers to inculcate the habit of proper hand washing in their children to help reduce child mortality and prevent diseases that hinder proper child development.
At New Jejeti, the sensitization programme saw 311 participants made up of 231 adults and 80 children while at Adasawase, the participants were 284 made up of 230 adults and 54 children.
