SNV in Bhutan 'casts a wider net' in its #HandHygieneforAll awareness raising initiatives

The world has been living with the COVID-19 pandemic for almost half a year now. Since the start of the pandemic, there has been important shifts in the way the Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) sector views its work, specifically as these relate to promoting hand hygiene. With proper hand washing with soap considered to be key in protecting individuals and populations from the spread of the coronavirus, parallel to these shifts, we're seeing a rise in innovative handwashing facilities and refreshed behavioural change communication activities.

For the occasion of Global Handwashing Day, and as part of the partnership's commitment to inclusive WASH services and development - Bhutan's Ministry of Health, SNV in Bhutan, UNICEF Bhutan, CBM, and with support from the Australian Government's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) - two educational videos on (hand) hygiene were produced for wide dissemination across the country. These videos were designed specifically for institutions and people who have - for many years - been left behind from WASH efforts: health care facilities, and people with disabilities (for people with hearing impairment, for people with visual impairment, and for people with intellectual disability and their carers).

Keeping health care facilities and their staff and personnel, patients, and visitors safe from disease transmission are crucial to ensure that nothing less than quality health care is offered by facilities. In this educational music video, singer Kinley Wangchuk outlines the steps of proper infection prevention control (IPC).

Many handwashing tutorials and behavioural change communication activities forget that mainstream and established methods of outreach can potentially exclude. The events of COVID-19 have elevated the urgency to reach all with (hand) hygiene messages... by all, this includes people with disabilities.

Together, these videos are contributing to the government-led Rural Sanitation and Hygiene Programme's (RSAHP's) ambition to achieve 100% improved sanitation.

Credits
Video: Jigme Tenzing
Music (healthcare facilities video): K3n Beatz  
Singer (healthcare facilities video): Kinley Wangchuk