What hygiene, water access mean in anti-Covid-19 battle
Handwashing, one of the main strategies in the battle against the spread of the coronavirus means many things to communities that have to go the extra mile to ensure they also have access to water.
Unicef Tanzania Representative Shalini Bahuguna shares insights with The Citizen Reporter Louis Kolumbia, on what it means for Tanzania to emphasize handwashing at the same time guarantee access to water. Excerpts:
Q: Lack of access to clean water is a growing reality across the world and in Tanzania. How is Unicef assisting in addressing this challenge in the context of Covid-19 and in general?
Unicef, along with DFID, has advocated with the Ministry of Water to ensure that there are water utilities in urban areas and Ruwasa in rural areas; are both prioritising the supply of water, especially to communities that are currently underserved. The Water PS issued a circular last week in this regard and the Ministry has requested weekly updates on the implementation of the directive.
But in general, Unicef has a long experience of implementing Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) programmes across the world.
An important element of our WASH strategy is to demonstrate to government how to design, finance, implement, monitor and evaluate, innovative service delivery programs.
The intention is to enable the government replicate successful program approaches that have attained scale.
A second thrust is in our upstream collaboration with government.
Here we provide technical assistance and some funding to influence policy, prepare technical guidance including development of guidelines and standards.
We also work to strengthen the legal and regulatory framework for effective WASH service delivery and strengthen key institutions charged with service delivery and sector regulation.
These include river basin authorities, water utilities, regulators, rural water and sanitation supply organizations among others.
Just as important as clean and safe water is universal access to basic sanitation. Unicef also works with governments to implement and refine its behaviour change programs aimed at nudging households to invest in an improved toilet to protect their families from diseases while enjoying dignified and aspirational sanitation facilities.
Q: Experts say that one way to prevent the spread of the coronavirus is to wash hands thoroughly and frequently. Unicef has also been promoting handwashing for a long time. Why is handwashing so important?
A: As Unicef we believe that handwashing with soap is one of the simplest ways to keep children healthy and free from diseases.
During childbirth, handwashing with soap, sterile equipment and antiseptics can be the difference between life and death.
Globally, up to 50 percent of cases of malnutrition are caused by inadequate water, sanitation and hygiene. Children reduce their risk of getting diarrhoea by more than 40 percent when they wash their hands with soap after going to toilet or before eating.
So, what makes handwashing so critical?
It is critical because many of the germs that cause illnesses including viruses like Covid-19, enter the body through a person after touching their mouth, nose, or eyes by fingers.
Other transmission pathways include living organisms like flies and mosquitoes which can spread infectious diseases; eating contaminated food, or drinking contaminated water.
Fingers, (our hands), are a major transmission pathway. Throughout the day, as we go about our business, either consciously or unconsciously we touch surfaces.
Many of these surfaces can harbour germs – microbes, bacteria, or viruses like Covid-19.
As we touch those surfaces, the microbes transfer to our fingers and we in turn become infected through touching our moth, nose, or eyes.
The most effective barrier to transmission through fingers therefore is regular hand washing with soap under running water.
Hand washing with soap is an inexpensive and very efficient way to stop the transmission of infectious germs.
Always prefer hand washing with soap where this is possible, otherwise we are supposed to use sanitizers.
Q: How does handwashing improve educational outcomes for girls in Tanzania?
A: The provision of WASH facilities in schools, including separated toilet blocks for boys and girls, hand washing stations with soap, and safe drinking water, are all necessary to creating a safe and comfortable learning environment for children which in turn underpins the attainment of enhanced learning outcomes.
Girls need safe spaces to manage their menstruation whilst at school.
Separated toilets and provision of menstrual hygiene and health facilities helps this and increases their confidence.
Enough safe drinking water is known to improve cognitive functioning of children.
Hand washing is important to protect against infection not only in schools where there are meals program, but also infection that can be picked up after using toilets.
Providing a full package of WASH facilities therefore contributes towards increasing girls and boys learning outcomes.
Much progress has been made in Tanzania in delivery of WASH services in the recent years. However, recent findings from the Tanzania National School WASH Assessment revealed that just 18 percent of schools had access to basic hygiene services, 55 percent to basic drinking water services and 88.7 percent of schools had access to improved toilet facilities.
However, a significant percentage of these facilities (58.4 per cent) were only partially functioning and 11 per cent are non-functional.
Therefore, access to basic sanitation in schools is 30 per cent. Inadequate access to water and lack of soaps in schools limited children’s ability to practice regular handwashing with soap at critical times.
Q: What can people do to prevent spread of Covid-19? What is Unicef doing to support the Tanzania government’s response to the coronavirus?
A: The one thing people can do to slow transmission is to constantly WASH their hands with soap under running water if available, but sanitizers should be used whenever there is no water and soap.
Bearing in mind that we are constantly touching surfaces and that Covid-19 can endure for some hours outside the body, it is vital to get into the habit of washing hands more regularly than we would under normal circumstances.
Doing so should also reduce the burden of diarrhoeal disease among children, freeing up resources in the health system to respond to cases of Covid-19.
Unicef is also supporting the government of Tanzania with supplies for infection prevention and control including soap, chlorine, Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs), boots, masks, gloves, aprons, mops, buckets, portable hand washing stations and many more. In addition, we are supporting remedial repairs of WASH infrastructure in treatment isolation centres to ensure the availability of functional WASH facilities.
In communities, we are putting out handwashing messages through the Risk Communication and Community Engagement (RCCE) channel and in the event of a lockdown, will support vulnerable population groups with soap.
We are also exploring ways to ensure continuity of water supply to unserved populations.
Finally, Unicef with partners consistently advocates with government for action to fill gaps in the preparedness and response plans as they become known.
Q: What is the link between handwashing, good hygiene practices and achievement of Sustainable Development Good (SDGs)?
Target 6.2 of the SDGs reads as follows:
“By 2030, achieve access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all, and end open defecation, paying special attention to the needs of women and girls and those in vulnerable situations”.
Hygiene including hand washing, face washing and bathing whole body regularly are all important in preventing infectious disease.
Diseases such as diarrhoea, trachoma, and scabies are all attributable to poor hygiene.
The evidence shows that when hand washing is introduced into a community, the incidence of diarrhoea is reduced by between 42 to 47 percent meaning that the action of handwashing alone can positively contribute towards eliminating diseases such as diarrhoea, cholera, and typhoid.
It is for this reason that Target 6.2 puts emphasis on hygiene, including handwashing.
