Abstract
ObjectivesHandwashing with soap and water remains the most effective public health measure to reduce the risk of infectious diseases, which kill over 2.5 million people annually, mostly children in developing countries. The absence of hand hygiene resources in homes put many at risk of these infectious diseases. In the wake of the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the World Health Organization (WHO) and governments around the world have stressed the importance of regular handwashing to prevent the spread of the virus. This suggests that research on water, sanitation, and hygiene issues deserve continuous scholarly attention. In Ghana, studies on household's access to hand hygiene resources are few and relatively old. Therefore, this study estimated the proportion of Ghanaian households with access to hand hygiene resources and their associated determinants using data from a recent national survey. MethodsThe study used the cross-sectional 2014 Ghana Demographic and Health Surveys dataset. We used STATA-14 to perform data analyses on a weighted sample of 11,710.06 households. We used complex samples analysis technique to adjust for sample units, stratification and sample weights for both the descriptive statistics and multivariate robust Poisson regression. ResultsThe result showed that about one fifth of Ghanaian households had access to hand hygiene resources. Households with heads who attained a Middle/JHS/JSS or Secondary/SSS/SHS/Higher level education, those headed by persons having at least 30–44 years, and non-poorest households, and from the Volta region were more likely to have access to hand hygiene resources. Further, households in urban areas, households that spent between 0-30 min to get to a source of water, and households in Eastern and Brong-Ahafo regions were less likely to have access to hand hygiene resources. ConclusionThis study identified key socioeconomic and demographic correlates of a household's access to hand hygiene resources in Ghana. In the interim, the government and development partners can provide hand hygiene resources to households with limited or no access. For the long term, we recommend that the government should implement measures and policies that facilitate citizens' economic independence and their attainment of higher formal education.
Highlights
Hand hygiene is among the most effective and inexpensive ways of reducing the spread of infectious diseases such as pneumonia and diarrhoea, the two leading causes of child morbidity and mortality globally [1]
Our study revealed that, compared to households that have water in their dwelling, households that had to spend between 0–30 min to collect water were less likely to have access to hand hygiene resources
Our study revealed that household head demographic factors, household characteristics, place, and region of residence are significant correlates of a household's access to hand hygiene resources
Summary
Hand hygiene is among the most effective and inexpensive ways of reducing the spread of infectious diseases such as pneumonia and diarrhoea, the two leading causes of child morbidity and mortality globally [1]. Sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) result in about 300,000 deaths annually in developing countries, especially in sub-Saharan Africa [2]. In Ghana, even though over 50 per cent of households have assigned a place for hand washing and other related practices, only about 20 per cent have water and other cleansing materials available [4]. One cultivates lifestyles and behavioural choices in the home, so it is important to promote the practice of hand hygiene at the home to influence behaviours and choices especially among children [5]. Evidence suggests that effective hand hygiene can reduce the risk of diarrhoea episodes by 30–70% [1]. Consistent handwashing with soap under running water can significantly reduce the incidence of gastrointestinal, respiratory infections, eye infections like trachoma, and intestinal worms, especially ascariasis and trichiasis [6]
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