This Global Handwashing Day (GHD), the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) will on 15 October 2020 join the rest of the world in the commemoration under the theme “Hand Hygiene for All”.

This is to remind the public of the importance of regular and proper handwashing in the prevention of the spread of diseases.

Handwashing with soap and water is an easy, effective and affordable way to prevent diseases. Hands are the most common highways for the transmissions and spread of bacteria and viruses that cause diseases resulting in people being hospitalized for treatment and at worst death.

In our daily activities and routines, we usually touch many shared surfaces which makes us susceptible to contracting different forms of viruses, thus making it critical to frequently wash our hands to prevent us contracting and spreading diseases.

Global Handwashing Day is a reminder for all the world citizens to wash hands regularly with soap, especially after using the toilet, changing baby’s nappies, touching waste, before and after preparing food and after touching any surfaces.

Global Handwashing Day is now more important than ever before, especially as we are faced with the deadly Covid-19 pandemic.

One of the ways to prevent the spread of this killer virus is to regularly wash our hands with soap and water or sanitize them with alcohol based sanitizers. This is critical as our hands are frequently exposed to germs and viruses as we always use them to touch all kinds of things.

As part of the celebrations and to encourage and instill a culture of regular handwashing in our communities, the Mpumalanga Provincial Office of DWS is Department of Water and Sanitation South Africa DWS_RSA throughout the month of October, engaging schools, especially in the rural areas to demonstrate the correct ways of washing hands and also to provide much needed handwashing materials and sanitizers to enable the learners and school staff to properly wash their hands and sanitize to prevent the spread of diseases, especially the coronavirus that we are currently fighting.

DWS also reminds the public that clean hands save lives therefore it is critical to wash and keep our hands clean and healthy at all times. Regular and proper handwashing is everybody’s business.

However, the Department would like to caution that while it is important to wash hands regularly and at critical time, this should be done with utmost care. Water users should inculcate the culture of saving water at all times.