By Charminae George
Armed with single-use tissues, liquid soap and a pedal bin, staff from the Central Board of Health (CBH) began a personal hygiene campaign in schools across Antigua yesterday.
Over the next two weeks, students of one preschool, 14 primary and 15 secondary schools will engage in 30-minute interactive presentations aimed at promoting proper hand-washing practices, and coughing and sneezing etiquette.
The hygienic practices of coughing into a single-use tissue, a bent elbow or into one’s clothing will be taught, along with a hands-on approach to hand-washing. This is according to Julienne Mannix, Principal Public Health Inspector at CBH.
“We go out with our hand-washing bucket which is equipped with single-use tissues. We have our liquid soap…our lined pedal bin. So we will demonstrate hand-washing techniques… and we will ask the students to demonstrate that for us,” Mannix told Observer yesterday.
She spoke of the main objective of the UNICEF-sponsored programme, which is to equip students with the knowledge in an effort to reduce the spread of germs and instances of influenza (flu) in schools.
“By going out to the different schools, we know that they are educated, they know what to do, and you can see less cases of diseases within schools,” Mannix stated.
She said vibrant posters featuring ‘Germ Buster’ superhero characters wearing the colours of the national flag have been employed to inspire children to not only learn the personal hygiene techniques, but to share what they have learned with others.
According to Mannix, the ‘Germ Buster’ school campaign is a collaboration between UNICEF, the Ministry of Health and CBH.
Flu is a respiratory illness caused by influenza viruses—often influenza A and B— that infect the nose, throat and lungs. Children under the age of 18 are the most likely to get sick from this virus.
Between 2010 and 2020, flu caused millions of illnesses, and several hundred thousand hospitalisations in the United States alone, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).