"Nasa kamay nating lahat ang ating kalusugan, kaya't kailangan nating panatilihing malinis ito," said Dr. Lorenzo San Agustin of Kamuning Super Health Center.
Dr. San Agustin, who is a resident dentist in the super health center, expressed the importance of proper handwashing as the first line of defense against the Coronavirus. The lack of handwashing stations in medical facilities however, can be a challenge in promoting this habit.
These past months, Kamuning Super Health Center has been one of the facilities that accommodates COVID-19 patients and as a mini-hospital, it responds to the urgent medical needs of the residents in its surrounding communities. The installation of a hybrid handwashing facility could help lessen the risk of spreading the disease, especially for its health care workers and outpatients because they can wash their hands as they enter or leave the premises.
Manila Water Foundation (MWF), together with its partners P&G Philippines, JCI Quezon City Capitol, and the Quezon City Government, installed four new handwashing facilities and rehabilitated two existing ones in public areas in Quezon City—including the one in Kamuning Super Health Center. The unique “hybrid” design of the facility helps users to turn on the faucet either via a lever that can be used by a hand or an elbow, or by using a foot pedal, while the one-meter distance between faucets allows proper physical distancing. The facility is also connected to clean water supply and a drainage system to ensure reliability and safety. The initiative is under MWF’s banner program “WASH in Pandemic” which aims to help protect communities from the spread of COVID-19 and provide an enabling environment for proper handwashing. This serves as one of the pilot sites for this program, as it prepares to install more of these hand hygiene facilities to other cities in Metro Manila where these are much needed.
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