Men must adopt the habit of washing their hands after urinating to avoid infecting people with diseases with their unclean hands, Deputy Minister of Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts Abla Dzifa Gomashie has advised.
She said men usually hold their male organs whiles urinating and therefore, could contract germs which could be passed on to others.
“Men must learn the art of washing their hands because you are the ones that really touch your organs when you visit the washroom, and we want you to pass clean hands to us when you greet our hands”, she stressed.
The Deputy Minister gave the advice at the launch of the Hygiene Promotion Programme and book review on the germ-free Valentine’s Day Celebration, organized by the Global Neighbourhood Health Care and Development Organization on Friday in Accra.
Mrs. Gomashie said women; most often “do not touch their vagina and so don not easily contract germs, unlike men who hold their manhood during and after urinating.”
She said it was important that men always learn how to wash their hands properly after each bout of nature’s call to avoid contracting germs from their discharge.
Mrs. Gomashie said there was the need for children also to appreciate and understand the need for regular hand washing with soap.
“Hand washing is a campaign to motivate and mobilize people to wash their hands with soap, this is a key approach to disease prevention” – “A healthy nation is a wealthy nation,” she said.
Touching on the importance of February 14, which is the Valentine’s Day, she said it was meant to show love to the vulnerable. She expressed the need for the promotion of hand washing in all spheres of life.
She said her ministry is strongly advocating local cuisine and hand washing was closely linked to this campaign of incorporating our local dishes into our menu at functions.
In a related development Mrs. Gomashie launched the “My hand washing, hand writing and colouring book” to encourage school children and adults to inculcate the habit of hand washing and be a change agent in their respective communities.
The book is expected to help children understand the value of hand washing with soap and to support the efforts of stakeholders in their quest to promote proper hand washing.
Mrs. Theodora-Adomako Adjei, head of Extended Service, National Coordinator for Hand washing with Soap, Community Water and Sanitation Agency, said for a sustainable behavioural change to occur, it was important to incorporate practical approaches that were relevant to specific target groups which would serve as a motivation for change.
Mrs. Adomako Adjei entreated all stakeholders, specifically development partners, to provide financial support for the publication of the book to enable all lower primary school children across the country to have copies.
That, she said would contribute to the sustainability of proper hand washing and promote significant impact on the health of children and adults.