The City of Cape Town’s Health Portfolio Committee has approved a hand-washing poster competition in support of Global Hand-washing Day 2012. This follows from the success of the last poster competition in 2010.

This year the poster competition will be open to secondary schools in Cape Town and will form part of the Life Orientation section of the curriculum. It seeks to create awareness about the benefits of washing one’s hands and illustrate how important it is to do so.

To enter, learners will need to create an A3 poster emphasising the health benefits of hand-washing, thus learning through a creative medium. City Health is greatly assisted by the Western Cape Education Department which will communicate the competition and the rules to the secondary schools in the city.

During August, learners will create their entries, which the schools will hand in to the local Environmental Health Offices. Adjudication will take place in September, with a prize-giving on Global Hand-washing Day on 15 October 2012.

The Rotary Club of Claremont has once again provided sponsorship, which will allow the winning learners and schools to buy text books – thereby further enhancing their education.

Various other outreach programmes are being planned for Global Handwashing Day, where City Health staff will demonstrate the correct hand-washing practices and provide valuable information.

“As we near Global Handwashing Day this year, we ask all residents to remember that your health is in your clean hands. Hand-washing with soap is amongst the most effective ways of preventing diarrhoeal disease and pneumonia, skin and eye infections, intestinal worms and flu. Many outbreaks of foodborne illnesses are traced to unwashed or poorly washed hands. Critical times for washing one’s hands are after going to the toilet or cleaning a child, and before handling food. Hand-washing is a simple habit that can keep you healthy,” says the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Health, Councillor Lungiswa James.