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The culture of handshaking has the tendency of transforming germs to a larger public if a person after visiting the toilet does not wash the hand with soap before proceeding to greet others, says Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, president of the Ghana Heart Foundation. �A handshake is even dirtier than a kiss,� he said on Monday at the opening of the University of Cape Coast�s first Faculty colloquium on cultural practices to support the promotion of health in the country, saying, �there is a link between health and culture.� Professor Frimpong-Boateng advocated view of certain cultural practices to effectively enhance the health of the people. The three-day event on the theme, �Communication, Culture and Health,� is to provide a platform for researchers in the university and elsewhere to disseminate their research findings on the selected theme, to inform policy briefs of the university and the nation. Prof. Frimpong-Boateng identified corruption, and inflation of prices of goods among other negative practices, as some of the issues undermining the health of the individual. He said the use of language, which constituted an aspect of the cultural system of a people, was crucial in the dissemination of issues on health in a more comprehensive way due to the fact that people would be able to better understand issues on health. He further advocated the adoption of effective health communication strategies in highlighting the country�s health issues. He suggested that messages carved by health communicators should be accurate, evidence-based and made available to the public over a period of time. Prof. Frimpong-Boateng urged the university to consider offering courses in health communication to equip people with adequate skills to be able to address issues regarding health in the country more effectively.