In the
continuation of the School of Health Technology [SOHT] lecture series, the 6th
lecture was held recently. The lecture was delivered by Dr. John Anamelechi
Ihebereme, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health, Imo state which coincide
with the 2014 global hygiene day, titled ‘Role of hand hygiene in combating
antimicrobial resistance’.
The Dean,
School of Health Technology [SOHT], Prof I. N. S. Dozie stated that the main
idea behind the institution of the lecture series is in line with the current
university administration’s ‘the quest for excellence’ which encourages schools
within the university to be innovative, creative and purposive. He enjoins the
participants to make use of the lecture in their life and change their
attitudes towards hand cleanliness.
Dr Ihebereme
stated that hand washing is an act of cleaning one’s hand with or without the
use of water or another liquid or with use of soap for the purpose of removing
soil, dirt or microorganism, therefore it is one of the most effective ways to
reduce the risk of acquiring an infections including those that are resistant
to antimicrobes.
He
encourages hand washing before food preparation, eating, feeding of children,
and after defaecation, cleaning babies, sneezing, etc with soap or alcohol
based cleanser.
To prevent
antimicrobial resistance, he called on patients to discuss with their
healthcare provider the appropriate medicine for their illness to avoid
overuse, underuse or misuse, challenged patients to face their doctors, nurses,
and other healthcare practitioners to always wash their hand accordingly before
touching them, regulate eating chicken, and other animals that are on regular antibiotics
among others.
In his
closing remark, Prof I. N. S. Dozie reemphasizes on the importance of hand
washing and challenged his school [SOHT] to lead by example in inculcating
hygiene and environment friendly attitudes, thereby exporting it to others for
the betterment of society.
The lecture
was well attended by the school principal officers, lecturers, students and
others.
.Mohammed
Sani Garba, Public Health Technology department, Federal University of
Technology, Owerri.