Only 12 percent of households in Malawi have hand washing facilities with soap and water, a low coverage that continues to fuel preventable waterborne diseases including cholera, diarrhoea, typhoid, dysentery and other hygiene-related infections that claim lives of children and vulnerable groups across the country.
In a press statement signed by Principal Secretary of Administration in the Ministry of Health and Sanitation Benson Chisamile, the Ministry says as Malawi today, 15th October, joins the world in commemorating Global Handwashing Day under the theme “Be a Hand washing Hero”, the statistics are a stark reminder that hand washing with soap remains one of the most effective, low-cost defences against disease transmission.
Chisamile added that Malawi has continued to battle recurrent outbreaks of cholera and diarrhoeal diseases, particularly in densely populated and flood-prone areas where poor sanitation and lack of hand washing facilities accelerate spread, reversing gains in public health and child survival.
To address this, Government says it has reaffirmed its leadership through the Presidential Compact on WASH which places water, sanitation and hygiene at the highest level of national governance, and Executive Order Number 2 which mandates all public institutions, markets, bus depots, schools and health facilities to provide and maintain functional hand washing facilities with running water and soap.
The Ministry further says the commemoration aligns with Malawi 2063 aspirations for a healthy and self-reliant nation and Sustainable Development Goal 6 target 2 on equitable sanitation and hygiene, noting that investment in hygiene is an investment in human capital and resilience against climate-induced health shocks.
According to the Ministry, progress has been registered through intensified public health campaigns, distribution of hygiene facilities in schools and health centres, and partnership with development partners and civil society that have improved hygiene awareness and uptake in communities.
However, it challenges persist, with many public places still without adequate hand washing stations and household-level behaviour change still lagging behind, calling for concerted efforts to enforce Executive Order Number 2, uphold the Presidential Compact on WASH and strengthen partnerships for sustainable WASH services.
The Ministry further explains that Global Handwashing Day is a call to every Malawian to become a hand washing hero by practicing proper hand washing at all critical times before eating, after using the toilet, before preparing food and after caring for a sick person — saying no child should suffer from a preventable hygiene-related disease.
