Bayer East Africa,KWAHO Partner to develop hand washing facilities at KNH

Bayer East Africa, in partnership with the Kenya Water for Health Organization (KWAHO), has renovated three Handwashing Facilities at the Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) in Nairobi. The facilities will serve the over 30,000 people who visit the facility every day and close to 6000 staff members who work there.

The upgrade, which has taken three months to complete, is geared towards providing access to clean and safe water for both drinking and handwashing purposes. This is important in promoting the prevention of healthcare-associated infections, especially in a facility such as KNH which hosts large numbers of patients, visitors, and staff every day.

Speaking during the event, Managing Director Bayer East Africa Laurent Pierre shared, “As Bayer East Africa, we are committed to enhancing the quality of life of our communities through different Corporate Social Engagements (CSE) programmes like this one. Indeed, the COVID-19 pandemic has proven that the importance of handwashing cannot be overemphasized. We are excited that this project will empower thousands of people who visit KNH daily. Indeed, regular handwashing with soap and clean running water is a vaccine against the spread of many diseases and; handwashing is a win for everyone except the germs“.

“The merits of having clean hands can not be overemphasized. It is the surest and easiest way to keep infection-causing germs from entering our bodies. I thank Bayer for the partnership and urge all members of the public who visit KNH to make good use of these facilities,“ Dr. Lydia Okutoyi, the director of health and quality at Kenyatta National Hospital commented.

“Indeed, these handwashing facilities will further contribute to the prevention of the Covid 19 virus trasmission, “ she added.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has rated hand washing as the number 1 method of preventing healthcare-associated infections. In the latest global survey on the implementation of national infection prevention and control programmes report, WHO highlights the urgent need to reduce inequalities in the availability of good hand hygiene and other infection prevention and control measures between high and lower-income countries.

Bayer launched its first water project at Kenyatta National Hospital back in 2015 in an effort to reduce the spread of diseases in Africa through infections from the hospital to the community and vice versa. Since almost everyone unconsciously touches their face with their hands several times a day, hand hygiene remains extremely vital in self-protection.