Unilever Ghana Limited has marked this year’s Global Hand Washing Day at the Manhean Presbyterian Cluster of Schools in Tema new town.

The annual event celebrated on October 15th, is a United Nations-recognized day dedicated to raising awareness on the importance of handwashing with soap.

Each year, over 200 million people are involved in handwashing celebrations in over 100 countries around the world.

The global handwashing day co-founded by Unilever through its health soap Lifebuoy, is aimed at promoting hand washing with soap and water amongst children especially those aged five and below, as a means to combating cholera and diarrhea responsible for the deaths of 10,000 children in Ghana every year.

This year’s event characterized by poetry recitals and plays, was to reinforce the call for improved hygienic practices in the prevention of diarrhoea and respiratory infections.

The school children, teachers and their families who took part in awareness creation event made a pledge to wash their hands with soap and water every day. They were also taken through proper ways of washing hands with soap and water.

Speaking at the event, Brands Manager of Lifebuoy, Millicent Loh said hand washing with soap is among the most effective and inexpensive ways to prevent diarrhoea and cholera.

According to her, as a company that supports giving children the best in life, Unilever Ghana seeks to ensure that kids in the country live up to the age of five by teaching them the importance of washing hands everyday with soap and water at the five critical times.

These five critical times Millicent noted, are washing hands before breakfast, before lunch, before super, after visiting the toilet and before you take your bath.

“To achieve this Unilever has introduced the schools program called 'School of 5' where we educate kids on the importance of hand washing and the proper way of doing it” she added.

The Lifebuoy Brands Manager believes through educating children to adopt healthy hygiene habits, we can ensure that not only the children, but their future children and grandchildren will sustain simple life-saving habits.

Millicent Loh observed that last year they reached 350,000 school kids with this noble gesture but they hope to reach 500,000 kids by the end of the year.

“As we celebrate Global Hand washing Day, we trust that everyone will always remember to wash their hands with soap and water every day as this is one of the ways of staying free from germs and diseases”.

A representative from the Ghana Education Service, Patrick Banafo urged the teachers to instill in the children the culture of handwashing in the classroom.

He indicated that diseases like cholera and diarrhoea can easily be prevented if the simple act of washing hands with soap and water is taken seriously.

Patrick Banafo said hand washing with soap is life-saving because it prevents the spread of communicable diseases.

He believes handwashing with soap and water will help Ghana meet the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of reducing deaths among children under five years by the end of 2015.

On his part, Tema Mantse, Nii Adjei Kraku II called on all parents in the town to encourage their children to always wash their hands with soap and water before eating.

He said children are future parents who can apply the behavior they have learnt in their own lives and pass on their habits to their own children.

Nii Adjei Kraku II thanked Unilever for the kind gesture and urged other corporate bodies to emulate their example.

Also present at the event were representatives from the Tema Municipal Assembly, headmaster, headmistress and teachers of the Presbyterian Cluster of Schools and staff of Unilever Ghana.