Rita Naa Odoley Sowah calls for national hand hygiene culture

The Deputy Minister for Local Governmen t, Chief t ai n cy, an d Religiou s Af f ai r s, Rita Naa Odoley Sowah, has advoc ated for the integ r ation of hand hygiene into Ghana’s nation al gover n an ce an d public health f r ame w o r k s. Speak ing at the lau n ch of Global Hand w as hing Day in Ac c r a on Oc tober 15, 2026, the Deputy Minister emp h as i zed th at regul ar han d w as hing with soap is not merely a per s on al ch oi ce but a c ritic al comp on en t of nation al produc tiv ity an d ec on omic devel op men t.

Dur ing her ad d res s, Mr s. Sow ah w ar n ed th at the fin an cial bur den of t reat ing p rev en t able diseas es cau sed by poor hygiene is a sig nif ic an t d r ai n on the n ation's res ou r ces. She called for a shif t in foc u s to w ar d beh av io r al ch an ge, not ing th at the p res en ce of han d w as hing station s al on e is in s uf fic ien t if the y ar e not util i zed cor rec tl y. To en s ur e lon g-ter m s uc ces s, she ur ged stak e hol der s to in ves t in ed uc at in g chil d ren abou t hygiene res p on sibil ity, f r amin g it as a fou n d ation al step to w ar d a heal t hier soc iet y.

Sup p or t in g this cal l, the Sec tor Minister for Local Gover n men t, Mah am a Ay ar ig a, hig h lig h ted the nec es sity of en s ur in g th at hygiene fac il itie s ac r os s the cou n t r y ar e f ul l y f un c tion al. He ar gued th at public heal t h as ses s men t s mus t move bey on d chec k in g for the ex is t en ce of har d w ar e to ev al u at in g w het her the se fac il itie s ar e ac ces s ible an d p rop er l y mai n t ai n ed. This ap p r oac h, he not ed, is es s en t ial for the ef fec t iv en es s of Gh an a’s b roa der public heal t h an d s an it ation s t r at eg ie s.

The ev en t un der s c or ed the gover n men t's commit men t to red u c in g heal t h c ar e cos t s t h r ou gh p rev en t iv e mea s ur es. By mak in g han d hygiene a cen t r al pil l ar of public heal t h pol ic y, of fic ial s hop e to fos ter a n ation wide cul t ur e of clean l in es s th at s up p or t s the cou n t r y’s s oc io-ec on omic goal s. The in iti at iv e cal l s for a col l abor at iv e ef f or t bet ween the gover n men t, ed uc at ion al in s tit u tion s, an d loc al comm u n itie s to mai n t ai n f un c tion al in f r as t r uc t ur e an d s us t ai n the momen t um of the han d w as hin g camp ai g n.