Preventable diseases killing children

Source: The National, Tuesday 16th October, 2012 By AGNES FIFI UKI FIFTEEN thousand children under the age of five die every year in PNG because of diarrhoea and pneumonia, Unicef country representative Baba Danbappa said yesterday. “This means that 41 children die a day in PNG from diseases that can be prevented, diarrhoea and pneumonia,” he said. He made the statement at Porebada Primary School in Central, where the Global Hand Washing Day was launched to mark its fifth anniversary. Danbappa said the aim of the day was to increase awareness and understanding about the importance of washing hands with soap to prevent diseases. He told teachers and students that many people washed their hands only with water believing it was enough to make hands clean. “This is not true. “Washing your hands with water and soap after using the toilet, before eating and preparing food helps a lot to break down the grease and dirt that carry most of the germs.” He said activities to observe the Global Hand Washing Day usually revolved around children and schools because children were powerful agents of change and what they learnt today would influence their communities, homes and school. Health deputy secretary Dr Paison Dakulala, on behalf of minister Michael Malabag, said this year’s theme of “Clean hands save lives” was fitting because it reminded people that the simple act of hand washing with soap could save many lives. Dakulala said last year, of the 4,468 children under five years with diarrhoea admitted in health facilities, 122 never recovered. “This is very sad and should not have happened if parents and guardians took heed and followed personal hygiene practices,” he said. Danbappa appealed to the Central education division to help Porebada Primary to build more toilets. The school only has three toilets for both students and teachers and that was not enough.