Zoomlion Foundation, partners mark health and handwashing awareness campaign

Zoomlion Foundation has observed this year’s Global Hand Washing Day with 3000 Zoomkids Club members at Nii Sowah Din Cluster of Schools in Adentan Municipality of Accra.

As part of the activities to mark the day, GIZ, Appointed Times Screen Printing Limited and other partners provided free health screening for the 3000 Zoomkids and free NHIS enrolment for additional 2000 Zoomkids and teaching staff.

The children were screened for malaria, eye, nose, blood sugar, eye, while the adults were also screened for breast cancer.

Some the school children were also registered onto the National Health Insurance Scheme, while others had their membership renewed.

The Communications and Corporate Affairs Director of Zoomlion Ghana Ltd, Emma Adwoa Appiaa Osei-Duah, noted that the objective of Global Handwashing Day is to get the children to know the need to regularly wash their hands while also encouraging their mates and family members to do the same.

By helping the children to imbibe such good habits will greatly impact their lives which will have a ripple effect on the country’s economic and health budgets,” she stressed.

Alluding to the theme “Clean hands are within reach” she said “We are here to help them to remember that handwashing is within reach”.

She added that every year, the Zoomkids join international and national partners to celebrate the Global Hand Washing Day.

The Public Relations Manager of the Adenta Municipal Education Directorate, Gloria Mensah, explained that the motive for partnering the Zoomlion Foundation is to promote hand washing education for the school children in the municipality.

She commended Zoomlion Foundation for providing handwashing facilities to the schools within the municipality.

She advised the school children to take handwashing very seriously and also educate their siblings at home on good environmental practices.

The National Coordinator for Zoomlion Foundation, Thomas Narh Korley, intimated that with the dangers imposed by infectious diseases, it was imperative to take precautions and preventive measures and not wait for the worse to happen before doing what is right.

Infectious diseases are becoming an issue all over the world, we need to take precautions and preventive measures, we shouldn’t wait till a situation like Corona virus before telling the children to wash their hands,” he explained.

We believe that if the children know how to protect themselves, when they grow up, we wouldn’t have to spend so much resources for vaccines to treat sickness because they will already be taking precautions daily, he observed.

The Coordinator hinted that all the schools involved in the project will receive logistical support to promote good environmental practices.

According to Korley, the Zoomlion Foundation together with the partners have planned a month long activities to observe the Global Hand Washing Day. Some of the activities include talk shows, drama shows, roadshows, health screening, NHIS registration and demonstration of handwashing.

We want to protect their health so they can stay in school and learn and become productive citizens, he remarked.

The partners include GES, GIZ, Appointed Time printers, Coca-Cola, Blueskies, Kasapreko, Golden Exotics Limited, NHIA and and Ghan Health Service.

Zoomkids

The Zoomkids CSR Program is aimed at raising the level of awareness on environmental sanitation issues among children and the youth in Ghanaian schools.

The main focus of the Zoomkids initiative is to “Catch Them Young,” in schools and have so far reached over 526 schools nationwide who have signed on to the various interventions including Zoomkids Recycling, Climate Change Innovations, Zoomkids Excursions, Operation Clean Your Frontage, Zoomkids Upcycling and Quiz Competitions.

In 2008 and 2009, the company collaborated with Ghana Education Service to start Zoomkids Clubs in the primary and JHS schools to the youth.