Accra, Sept. 6, GNA – Public facilities must undergo regular hygiene audit to help reduce the risk of infections in those facilities, a sanitation and hygiene expert has said.
The expert, Mrs Esther Dwamena, who is also the Managing Director of Witties Ghana, a sanitation and hygiene consultancy company, said the audit would help provide a comprehensive insight about the hygiene conditions of the facility.
She made the call in an interview at the launch of two new products (Clinell Universal Wipes and Nanotouch Self-cleaning Surfaces ) introduced by the company as part of efforts to reduce infections and promote good hygiene at workplaces and homes.
“The audit helps to create continuous improvement of hygiene standards in the facility and helps to identify which areas to improve, “Mrs Dwamena said.
She said the onslaught of the COVID-19 pandemic and the rate at which it spread at workplaces had emphasised the need for organisations to embrace effective hygiene management to protect their staff, customers and visitors.
She urged organisations to develop hygiene policies and engage experts to help in the implementation of those policies as well as train staff on proper hygiene practices.
“Infections are on the rise and we need innovations such as these to prevent infections. Sanitation is a call for all. We are in to bring value and make sure that we reduce infections in our communities,” she said.
Mrs Florence Kuukyi, Public Health Director, Accra Metropolitan Assembly commended Witties Ghana for contributing towards efforts to promote good hygiene and improved sanitation in the country.
She said environmental hygiene and safety were critical to preventing diseases and urged public institutions to embrace technology and innovation and focus on standardised procedure for cleaning and maintaining good hygiene.
“Germs are picked from surfaces and now there are new ways of measuring surfaces. Today, we have technologies and innovations that work better in preventing infections,” Mrs Kuukyi said.
According to the Water and Sanitation Program (WSP), Ghana loses about GHS420 million each year, equivalent to US$290 million to poor sanitation.
Following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, all public facilities were mandated to provide hand-washing facilities at their facilities as a measure to reduce the spread of infections within those facilities.
The Ghana Health Service, in July last year, considered workplaces “a major area for concern” when the country experienced a third wave of COVID-19.
The Service explained at the time that most of the infections it had recorded were from the workplace and not communal interaction.
Source: Ghana News Agency
