Ghana�s Most Beautiful Runner-up, Enam Joins Sanitization Campaign

The Environmental Health Club, a Tema based non-governmental organization has officially launched a hand hygiene sensitization awareness creation and education programme at the DEKS Educational Institute in Tema. Mr Timothy Sowah, the administrator of the school gave a brief presentation on the schools readiness to be the pacesetter in ensuring good health and collective responsibility of one and all in a healthy society. Miss Linda Essandoh, an environmental activist and hand hygiene ambassador of the Club who is also a visiting student from the United Kingdom, addressed the pupils, students and staff of the school. She explained the need for concerns on how we constantly come into contacts with contaminated surfaces and cross contamination in our daily activities. She said pupils and students for instance, on their way to school come into contact with millions of germs. This happens when they open and close doors, board vehicles, handle currency (giving and collecting from bus conductors) and the use of public computers or internet cafe. We shake hands a lot in Ghana; it�s a part of our greeting in other words. We are unaware of what the other person has come into contact with before meeting them. She stressed the fact that hand hygiene education should start from the home at an early childhood level in order for it to become part and parcel of our lives. Ms Christiana Agor affectionately called Enam, the First Runner Up of Ghana�s Most Beautiful also emphasized on the need to use potent hand sanitizers. She stressed that it should be fairly easy to use in situations where there are no proper facilities for hand washing with water and soap. Enam highlighted on the importance of hand washing and how this could lead to the reduction of diseases such as meningitis, hepatitis A, types of cholera, influenza, flu and common cold. She said it was important each and everyone become conscious of environmental sanitation and personal hygiene. She appealed to the audience to become ambassadors in their various homes and churches to increase education on the need for hand hygiene. The Project Coordinator of the Environmental Health Club, Mr Robert Amiteye spoke on preventive health as the best way of life for a healthy being. He said individuals have the responsibility to ensure their own personal safety and that of the environment. Mr Amiteye called on all to conserve water and minimize waste especially at home and in schools. He said schools will have to improve on the environmental sanitation in their washrooms/restroom to control the risk of cross contamination. He added that if indeed prevention is better than cure, then let�s all practice it as a way of life. He finally expressed appreciation to Pz Cussons, for providing the Carex brand hand sanitizer samples for the practical education. Ms Gloria Kafui Amegah and Esther Amankwah did the demonstration of the effective application of the Carex hand sanitizer and gave out samples. They both entreated the participants to an accapella version of the yet to be released song on eco-justice. In a related event at the Christian Vertical Centre School, Ms Kafui Amegah and Linda Essandoh engaged the pupils and staff of the school on the subject of separation of plastic sachet waste in schools and hand hygiene education. The environmental health club donated books on earth keeping to the school.