Senior Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) InayatUllah Khan has reiterated the firm pledge of his government of improving the health and hygiene condition and promoting education and awareness among the masses. He said that provision of clean drinking water, sanitation and hygiene have also been declared three main targets of the local governments wherein it have been made duty bound to achieve these goals.
He was addressing a function in connection with “Global hand washing with soap day” at Local Governance School Hayatabad Peshawar on Thursday and organized by Local Govt and Rural Development Department in collaboration with UNICEF and WHO. The function was also addressed by Dr Francois Kampundu, Tom Otieno Otunga, UNO Humanitarian Officer, Syed Zafar Ali Shah, Secy Local Councils Board, Said Rehman, Coordinator WatSan Cell, Waseemul Haq Senior Coordinator IRC and WASH cluster coordinator Asif Mehmood who highlighted importance of the day and enormous benefits of hand washing as well as the role and contribution of their organizations in this regard.
InayatUllah said hand washing with soap is very simple but useful human behaviour that guarantees healthy life. He regretted that as the world observes “Global hand washing day” today, the fact is still there that millions of children under the age of 5 years die every year from diarrhoeal diseases caused by lack of clean water and basic hygiene while the prevention is simple and inexpensive. He said our religion Islam specifically emphasises on hygiene and cleanliness in day today life. Unfortunately there is little awareness on part of parents and other stakeholders to educate their children on it. He said hand washing with soap at critical times can dramatically cut down the number of young children who get sick and could prevent about 1 out of every 3 episodes of diarrheal illnesses, which can ensure healthy future for our children.
