Handwashing with Soap: awareness continues in Antananarivo

Antananarivo, 29 April, 2022 - Departing from Mahamasina, in front of the Barea Stadium, the Ministry of Water, Hygiene and Sanitation, with UNICEF support, is continuing the national awareness campaign around the handwashing with soap. It is no longer worth recalling that this “barrier” gesture should be promoted for several reasons: it is one of the best ways to protect yourself and your family against all forms of illness and in particular makes it possible to prevent coronavirus. Furthermore, it is the most cost-effective because it can reduce the incidence of transmission of several chronic diseases linked to lack of hygiene.

This awareness is entering the phase of realization and implementation of the national campaign "Hand Hygiene for All" launched in October 2021. With the slogan "our future is in our hands, let's all move forward together" or "Eo am-pelantanantsika ny ho avy, ndao hiaraka handray andraikitra", it aims on the one hand to recall the importance of handwashing with soap and to encourage people to systematically practice this healthy behaviour, and on the other hand to call on all actors working in the WASH sector to become more involved in promoting "Hand Hygiene for All".

In Madagascar, obstacles persist, thus making this simple gesture not accessible to the greatest number of people:

• Only one in four people have a Hand Washing Device with Soap according to data from the MICS Survey^[1] in 2018.
• More than half of schools do not have drinking water, soap and a place to wash hands.
• In administrative offices and high-traffic public places, the existing handwashing facilities sometimes fail to meet the needs of users since they are already obsolete and non-functional.

In order to make the population aware of the importance of handwashing with soap, the awareness campaign is thus organized in the busiest districts of the capital, in particular in Anosibe, Isotry, Antanimena and Analakely. Several activities are planned such as the demonstration of the use of contactless handwashing devices or the right actions to adopt for handwashing with soap to be effective.

Note that in March, the cities of Toamasina and Toliary were also the targets of this awareness campaign last March. The Ministry of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene, with the support of UNICEF and its partners, carried out advocacy actions in key places in these cities, with schools, colleges, basic health centres or markets and public squares to encourage this simple and effective gesture.

^[1] Multiple Indicators Cluster Survey : Survey carried out in 2018.