Save Lives: Clean Your Hands’ is the theme of this year’s Global Hand Hygiene Day 2020.
Celebrated every year on 5 May, Hand Hygiene Day mobilizes people around the world to increase adherence to hand hygiene: handwashing is one of the most effective actions you can take to reduce the spread of pathogens and prevent infections.
The coronavirus pandemic has led us back to the basics, reminding us of the correct way to hand washing: simply using soap and clean water to wash hands thoroughly can reduce disease exposure tremendously. It’s one of the best ways to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
But what if you live somewhere without running water?
With limited access to healthcare, the potential consequences of an outspread of COVID-19 among the communities in the developing world could be disastrous.
CO2balance is committed to improving good hygiene practices within the communities we work with. Our Safe Water Projects include regular training sessions to raise awareness of WASH.
With our partners and in-country teams, training and demonstrations are carried out to emphasise the importance of good hygiene practices such washing hands and cooking equipment with soap or collecting water in clean and secure containers in order to prevent infections, improve health, and save lives.
In light of the COVID-19 situation, access to clean water for hand-washing and following good WASH practices is more important than ever.
In Mozambique and Zambia CO2balance has partnered with Village Water to implement Safe Water Projects.
Village Water have put in place small group trainings (in line with government restrictions) based on a pyramid approach to share useful information regarding the disease, hygiene care, social distancing, correct hand washing, among communities. The idea being that each person that participates in the training can spread the message to an additional small group- ensuring that the message is spread while maintaining social distancing and group gathering restrictions.
The programme is also implementing tippy taps at key points within the communities, such as water points, where people have a much higher risk of getting in contact with the virus.
The tippy tap is easily assembled and operated by a foot pedal. As a hands-free device, the only thing the user touches is a bar of soap suspended from a string to minimise the transfer of the virus.
The tippy tap is one simple and safe way to wash your hands and makes handwashing more widely available, helping to stem the spread of COVID-19 in the areas with no running water.