ETHIOPIA—The Director General of the African CDC, Dr. Jean Kaseya, has called on governments and stakeholders to increase resources for hand hygiene by improving access to clean water and sanitation facilities.

Hand hygiene practices are essential to curbing the rate of transmission of disease outbreaks such as Ebola, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), and Influenza.

The practices could help dramatically reduce health-associated infections in Africa such as diarrhoea and respiratory infections.

Dr. Kaseya called on the continent to take stock and define the next steps for Africa’s progress in improving hand hygiene.

He continued in his statement and said that access to hand hygiene remains a luxury in many parts of the continent and the continent must entrench routine clean care habits for everyone, especially in healthcare facilities, schools, crowded public spaces, and prisons.

That the World Health Organization (WHO) states that 50% of healthcare facilities worldwide lack basic hand Hygiene facilities.

Furthermore, a joint report from UNICEF and WHO shows that 839 million people and 38% of schools lack fundamental hand hygiene tools.

The disparity is more glaring when individuals in urban centres that lack fundamental hand hygiene facilities stood at 50% while their counterparts in rural areas are at 70%.

He called for joint action from African regional directors of the African Union (AU), Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH), WHO, and United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) that there is a need for political leadership in the implementation of hand hygiene.

The joint action also highlights the need for multisectoral collaborations for infection prevention and control (IPC) and Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) at regional, national, and sub-national levels.

In accordance with the African Common Position on Antimicrobial Resistance, African Heads of state outlined their commitment to access clean water, sanitation, and hygiene in healthcare facilities, schools, households, and community settings.

He also continued to demonstrate how the COVID-19 pandemic had presented an enormous logistic challenge for the continent as well as exposed the nations to their lack of access to personal protective equipment and other tools to facilitate disease control and prevention.

The benefits of hand hygiene cannot be overstated and Dr. Kaseya elaborated on the benefits of investing in hand hygiene through the local manufacture and distribution of alcohol-based hand rubs that gained a significant surge and were used to significantly support reopening efforts during the pandemic.

This was entirely based on local ingenuity and resourcefulness to promote hand hygiene at the height of the crisis and developed affordable and effective hand sanitizers.

He further asserts that incorporating hand hygiene in school curricula and community programs could foster a lasting culture of hygiene.

Community engagement efforts could strengthen the message and encourage hand hygiene at the community level.

The call to action by Dr. Kaseya also recognized that though nations are recovering from COVID-19, other infections are emerging, and increasing hand hygiene investment is paramount going forward.

Dr. Kaseya also notes that there is a need for political commitment, domestic financing and infrastructure, and legal backing through policies, standards, and enforcement mechanisms.

All these efforts cannot be done by governments alone and hence need for policymakers, the private sector, civil society, international partners, academia, communities, and individuals to collectively step up.

Hand hygiene prioritization is a proactive step in safeguarding the health and well-being of millions across the continent.

He encouraged African States to leverage lessons learned and invest in good infection prevention and control practices in healthcare facilities to limit the transmission and spread of infections.

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