World Vision Ghana calls for increased, sustained investment in hygiene infrastructure

World Vision Ghana has called for increased and sustained investment in hygiene infrastructure, saying that awareness creation alone was insufficient to improve hand hygiene practices and protect public health. The organisation said access to water, soap and functional handwashing facilities remained a major challenge in many communities, despite efforts to promote handwashing as a simple and cost-effective way of preventing diseases. The Interim National Director of World Vision Ghana, Joshua Roland Baidoo, said sustainable progress in hygiene required stronger public investment, innovative financing approaches and meaningful private sector participation to provide and maintain handwashing facilities. He said millions of people, especially across Ghana, continued to lack access to basic handwashing facilities, reliable water services and adequate sanitation infrastructure in their households, schools and healthcare facilities. “For many children, handwashing is not limited by lack of awareness. It is constrained by the absence of water, soap, facilities and enabling systems,” he said. Mr Baidoo was speaking at the Regional Hand Hygiene and WASH Leadership Summit 2026, organised as part of activities to commemorate Global Handwashing Day in Bolgatanga. He said handwashing with soap remained one of the simplest, most cost-effective and impactful public health interventions, capable of preventing diseases, reducing child mortality, improving school attendance, protecting healthcare facilities and contributing to economic productivity. He, however, said the lack of adequate infrastructure and sustainable financing continued to undermine efforts to translate public awareness into consistent handwashing practices. Mr Baidoo called for hygiene to be deliberately integrated into development planning, public health systems, educational institutions and local governance structures, with clear accountability mechanisms to ensure lasting results. He also urged stakeholders to prioritise climate-resilient and innovative Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) solutions to address increasing pressure on water resources and infrastructure resulting from climate change. “As climate change places increasing pressure on water resources and infrastructure, we must embrace technologies and approaches that are resilient, locally appropriate and environmentally sustainable,” he said. Mr Baidoo emphasised the need for stronger collaboration among government institutions, development partners, civil society organisations, traditional and religious leaders, academia and the private sector to accelerate access to hygiene services. He said no single institution could address the challenges independently, stressing that partnerships, shared leadership and collective accountability were necessary to achieve sustainable improvements. Mr Baidoo called on stakeholders to commit to ensuring that every child had access to handwashing facilities at school, every patient could practise proper hand hygiene at healthcare facilities and every household could maintain good hygiene practices with dignity and safety. The Monitoring and Evaluation Coordinator at World Vision Ghana, Richard Iddrissu, said the organisation aimed to support the provision of handwashing facilities to 303 schools and 153 healthcare facilities under its Universal Service Coverage agenda by 2030, to contribute to the country’s efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Upper East Regional Environmental and Sanitation Officer, Charles Yinbil, noted that hygiene and open defecation remained major concerns in the Upper East Region, saying open defecation in the region stood at 63.7 per cent as of the end of 2025. He attributed the decline in hand hygiene and access to WASH services to unsustainable funding and called for deliberate investment in hand hygiene, adding that research had shown that hand hygiene had the potential to reduce diarrhoea by 30 per cent. In a speech read on his behalf, the Upper East Regional Minister, Akamugri Donatus Atanga, commended World Vision Ghana and its partners for complementing the Government’s efforts over the years to reduce infections and improve the well-being of the people. He reiterated the commitment of the Government, particularly the Upper East Regional Coordinating Council and the Municipal and District Assemblies in the region, to supporting initiatives that would contribute to improving the lives of the people.