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Type | Bucket |
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Inventor | Veronica Bekoe |
Available | Available |
The Veronica bucket [1] is a mechanism for hand washing originating in Ghana which consists of a bucket of water with a tap fixed at the bottom, mounted at hand height, and a bowl at the bottom to collect waste water. The Veronica bucket was developed by Veronica Bekoe. The Veronica bucket serves as a simple way to encourage proper hand washing using flowing water. Bekoe in an interview stated that the bucket was originally made to help her and her colleagues wash their hands under running water after each lab session. She said, "We are used to washing hands in a bowl with others washing in the same water, which will do more harm than good." These colleagues were contaminating their hands rather than decontaminating them. In addition to the COVID benefit of hand washing, the Veronica bucket is also essential for areas where potable water is not readily available. [2]
The bucket is also used in other African countries. It is common in places such as schools, hospitals, churches and in areas with no running taps. [2] It has become very popular in Ghana following the outbreak of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) as citizens engage in frequent hand washing to stem its spread. [3] [4] In Ekiti State, Nigeria, the governor Kayode Fayemi directed all public places to provide running tap water or Veronica buckets "to encourage frequent handwashing" as part of the measures to contain COVID-19. [5]
Before the COVID-19 outbreak, the invention was used in some schools and hospitals but it is in high demand due to its role in curbing the outbreak. Now, the set up could be spotted in places like the malls, hospitals, corporate institutions and government offices. It was invented by a Ghanaian, Veronica Bekoe, [6] whom the invention was named after. She claimed the bucket was named after her in 1993 by Joan Hetrick. [7] Bekoe is a biologist who has worked at the Public Health and Reference Laboratory of the Ghana Health Service from 1972 to 2008. [8]
The invention was initially produced by local artisans with aluminium utensils used in selling Hausa koko attached with a tap which was a prototype, popularly known as Akorlaa gyae su and currently it made of plastic with a tap attached to it which has an area for holding soap and towels. Variations available today comes in all colours. [9] [10] [11]
In February 2021, Veronica Bekoe launched an updated version of the bucket to reduce physical contact with the unit and further help halt the spread of COVID-19. [12]
Hygiene is a series of practices performed to preserve health. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), "Hygiene refers to conditions and practices that help to maintain health and prevent the spread of diseases." Personal hygiene refers to maintaining the body's cleanliness. Hygiene activities can be grouped into the following: home and everyday hygiene, personal hygiene, medical hygiene, sleep hygiene and food hygiene. Home and every day hygiene includes hand washing, respiratory hygiene, food hygiene at home, hygiene in the kitchen, hygiene in the bathroom, laundry hygiene and medical hygiene at home.
Hand washing, also known as hand hygiene, is the act of cleaning one's hands with soap or handwash and water to remove viruses/bacteria/microorganisms, dirt, grease, or other harmful and unwanted substances stuck to the hands. Drying of the washed hands is part of the process as wet and moist hands are more easily recontaminated. If soap and water are unavailable, hand sanitizer that is at least 60% (v/v) alcohol in water can be used as long as hands are not visibly excessively dirty or greasy. Hand hygiene is central to preventing the spread of infectious diseases in home and everyday life settings.
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Emergency sanitation is the management and technical processes required to provide sanitation in emergency situations. Emergency sanitation is required during humanitarian relief operations for refugees, people affected by natural disasters and internally displaced persons. There are three phases of emergency response: Immediate, short term and long term. In the immediate phase, the focus is on managing open defecation, and toilet technologies might include very basic latrines, pit latrines, bucket toilets, container-based toilets, chemical toilets. The short term phase might also involve technologies such as urine-diverting dry toilets, septic tanks, decentralized wastewater systems. Providing handwashing facilities and management of fecal sludge are also part of emergency sanitation.
Kasapreko Company Limited (KCL) is a Ghanaian ISO 22000:2005 certified indigenous manufacturer and producer of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks. Alomo Bitters a herbal based alcoholic drink is KCL's flagship product. Kasapreko was 6th according to the 2012 Ghana Club 100 rankings. In 2017 KCL was awarded top Ghanaian company in the competitive beverage sector by the Association of Ghana Industries.
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"Catch It, Bin It, Kill It" is a slogan used in several public health campaigns of the British government to promote good respiratory and hand hygiene by recommending carrying tissues, using them to catch a cough or sneeze, disposing of them immediately in a waste bin and then killing any remaining viruses by washing hands or using hand sanitiser. In 2007, following evidence that good respiratory and hand hygiene might reduce the spread of flu, the phrase appeared in a government campaign that publicised the directive "Catch it, Bin it, Kill it" throughout the NHS, on buses and trains and in libraries, shopping centres and police stations.
The COVID-19 pandemic in Ghana is part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. The first two cases in Ghana were confirmed on 12 March 2020, when two infected people came to Ghana, one from Norway and the other from Turkey.
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The Government of Ghana initially responded to the virus through a nationwide disinfection and fumigation exercise which began in April 2020. In order to curb the spread of the virus, the government enforced lockdowns, aggressive contact tracing, public bans and social measures such as encouraging the wearing of face masks. By April, it began the gradual reopening of the country; lifting all lockdowns while maintaining protocols such as social distancing. Throughout the pandemic, the government partnered with the private sector in order to roll out economic reliefs and recovery programs as a result of the impact of the pandemic on Ghana's economy. There was also an expansion of medical facilities and the improvement of testing logistics.
On 5 January 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) notified the world about "pneumonia of unknown cause" in China and subsequently followed up with investigating the disease. On 20 January, the WHO confirmed human-to-human transmission of the disease. On 30 January, the WHO declared the outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern and warned all countries to prepare. On 11 March, the WHO said that the outbreak constituted a pandemic. By 5 October the same year, the WHO estimated that a tenth of the world's population had been infected with the novel virus.
The following is a timeline of the COVID-19 pandemic in Ghana during 2021-2022.
Most governments decided to temporarily close educational institutions in an attempt to reduce the spread of COVID-19. As of 12 January 2021, approximately 825 million learners are affected due to school closures in response to the pandemic. According to UNICEF monitoring, 23 countries are implementing nationwide closures and 40 are implementing local closures, impacting about 47 percent of the world's student population. 112 countries' schools are open.
The following is a timeline of the COVID-19 pandemic in Ghana from August 2020 to December 2020.