16% of handwashing stations inaccessible to children, PWDs — report

Sixteen out of every 100 handwashing stations installed in the country are inaccessible to children and people living with disability, a report by Amref Health Africa shows.

The findings were from a survey conducted in five counties – Nairobi, Embu, Homa Bay, Kwale and Mombasa. 

In most cases, the report shows, handwashing stations are placed in a raised place, which is way too high to be reached by children and people living with disability.

The findings have raised the question of inclusivity for everyone when designing the stations.

The ‘Performance and utilisation of handwashing stations deployed in response to Covid-19 in Kenya’ study sought to assess the functionality, accessibility and maintenance of handwashing stations in public spaces.

“We all understand that handwashing is a proven prevention measure for respiratory infections and intestinal infections, but the challenge is that about 67 per cent of Africans are the only ones who have been classified to be doing handwashing,” Martin Muchangi said.

He is the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (Wash) and Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) programme director at Amref Health Africa in Kenya.

“With Covid-19, there was mass installation of handwashing stations, especially in public places, but there is very little evidence on how the maintenance of these public stations was happening,” he added.

According to the study, about 74 per cent of the stations that were installed at the start of the pandemic were still in the intended areas, meaning that vandalism is low.

From the study, 84 per cent of handwashing stations were functional for six months post-installation.

“This means all those that were assessed had water, there was soap and the tap was actually functioning,” Muchangi said.

With regard to utilisation, about 85 per cent of observed users washed their hands.

There were three users per hour, while about 80 per cent of the caretakers were reported to have visited the handwashing stations multiple times to ensure that either soap or water was replenished.

Businesspeople interviewed said the management of the stations should be done in partnership with the government to make more people appreciate the importance of washing hands.

“They would want some shared form of responsibility. The small shops either in informal settlements or in rural areas say they feel that if such kind of system is organised, then the cost can be lowered and accessibility assured,” he said.

The report recommends that local governments adopt a framework for partnering with local businesses and engaging communities to understand the need for behaviour change, especially in handwashing, and to create a norm that ensures people continuously wash their hands and observe hand hygiene.

"What we need to do is invest in handwashing for all. This is the only sure way of ensuring that we get to the next better normal. Whatever is available right now is under the Public Health Act, but then that perhaps is not fully sufficient to drive an entire process.”

Washing of hands has been proven to contribute to the reduction of diarrhoea by 35 to 50 per cent and respiratory infections by 16 to 30 per cent.

Edited by A.N