Belmopan. October 15, 2021. 10:15 a.m.
The Ministry of Health & Wellness today celebrates Global Handwashing Day. This yearly event, which is commemorated in partnership with the Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) multi-sectoral body, will be observed for a month, from October 15 to November 15, 2021.
The ministry celebrates the occasion under the theme, “Our future is at hand – let’s move forward together.” The theme is a call to action to raise awareness on handwashing, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.
This advocacy day encourages the business community and all organizations to set up handwashing stations at the entrances to public and private buildings, at bus and water taxis terminals, at markets, shops, health care facilities and schools. It is necessary to foster an enabling environment for handwashing to constantly remind people to wash hands at crucial moments.
This month’s activities will include education sessions and handwashing demonstrations at the various vaccination sites, display of children’s handwashing drawings, and donation of hygiene packages, murals, information booths and handwashing stations to schools.
In light of the international attention given to hand hygiene, there are still many persons who have challenges accessing clean water and soap. There are households, schools, and communities that lack adequate handwashing facilities. Thus, it is important that countries, partners, and communities continue to advocate and invest so that more people can wash their hands frequently, particularly as a part of the COVID-19 prevention response.
The Ministry of Health & Wellness and the WASH multi-sectoral body emphasize the importance of hand hygiene as it remains the first line of defense in preventing disease outbreaks and has the potential to stop several routes of COVID-19 transmission, such as eliminating the virus from contaminated hands before it is passed on to other people. Although other preventative measures are encouraged, the public is reminded that the risk of transmission remains, and handwashing is still essential.
The Ministry of Health & Wellness along with the WASH multi-sectoral body comprising of UNICEF, the Belize Red Cross, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Science, and Technology, Rotary Club of Belize, and the Belize Social Investment Fund remain committed to the cause of water sanitation and hygiene.
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For more information, please contact:
Kathleen Azueta Cho
Technical Advisor, HECOPAB
Ministry of Health & Wellness
Belmopan
822-2325
