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School children and voluntary organizations in Bolgatanga, on Thursday took to the streets in a match pass sensitizing the public on the need to wash hands before eating and after touching dirty objects, to mark the global hand washing day. The campaign for hand washing with soap has become an annual global event, which falls on October 15, every year to raise awareness on the need to wash hands after touching dirty objects. The children carried placards which read, wash hands with soap for a healthier life, germs fear soap, Ghana needs you, so wash your hands with soap, cleanliness is next to Godliness and for truly clean hands, always wash with soap, hand washing with soap makes a healthy family among others. The occasion brought together the Christian community, Muslims, traditional authorities, chop-bar operators, and the public, to witness a drama by the school children entitled, 'clean hands saves life'. Mr. Mark Woyongo, Upper East Regional Minister, in a speech read on his behalf by the Bolgatanga Municipal Chief Executive, Mr. Epsona Ayamga said according to hand washing behaviour study carried out in 2002 in four districts in the country, 24 per cent of mothers of children under five, wash hands with soap after using the toilets and 16 per cent of mothers wash hands with soap after cleaning up a child who had defecated, while 28 per cent wash with water alone. He said the study showed that, hand washing was acceptable and widely practiced, only soap was not used. Mr. Woyongo stated that government was committed to building a healthier, prosperous and happy nation in order to increase productivity, and improve the standard of living of its citizens. He noted that increasing the practice of hand washing with soap among mothers, care-givers of children, and school children, will indeed help reduce savings for health care and lost days at school and workplace. He said government through all the municipal and district assemblies, was embarking upon major multi-sector collaboration, with a view to improving sanitation and portable water. The Minister assured the school children that government would provide water and institutional latrines with hand washing facilities for every school with the view to improving school health. Mr. Gilbert Amoah, Regional Engineer of the Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA) noted that, the challenge is to transform hand washing with soap from an abstract good idea into a practical behaviour performed in homes, schools and communities worldwide, adding that the CWSA was picking up the challenge to make sure that Ghanaians were protected from diarrhoea and acute respiratory infections. Mr. Amoah said the global event, hand washing, was a single most cost effective health intervention in the prevention of diarrhoea, respiratory disease and the promotion of public health especially for children less than five year.