Infections caused by poor sanitation have declined thanks to the mandatory hand washing enforced across the country as part of the measures to contain the spread of coronavirus.

However, there is still concern in rural areas with limited supply and access to clean water as many find it too costly.

According to data from the health sector, poor hygiene-related illnesses have dramatically gone down since last year as the country adopted handwashing to contain the Covid-19. Diseases caused by lack of hygiene are typhoid, diarrhea and hepatitis A. “While we often had around 80 children aged below five suffering diarrhea every month, we only received two during April from among the 3,422 children tested,” Pascasie Byukusenge, the director of Public health and Sanitation at Mushaka Health Center in Rusizi district told Rwanda Today.

While limited access to water continues to pose sanitation challenges in some places, overall handwashing stations available in public places including public transport stations, markets and shopping malls are minimising the risk of sanitation-related infections.

In addition, in different public places in Kigali city and some parts of rural settlements, washing or sanitising hands are mandatory for everyone entering the venues, while some homes have been fitted with their wooden-made and jerrycans hand washing facilities are locally known as Kandagirukarabe.

This has increased awareness about the importance of personal hygiene. “People normally wash their hands before eating, but with mitigation measures against the Covid-19, mindset is progressively changing and they wash hands regularly,” said Jackson Havugimana, a public health officer at Kibuye Health Center in Karongi district.

Also, the government has urged the people to minimise social contact and frequent mouth and nose touching, under the coronavirus mitigation mechanisms, which has played a role in the reduction of poor hygienic diseases.

However, the arid districts in the western part of the country still struggle with limited supply of clean water or none at all.

“Stagnated water causes disease. For instance, whenever you cook the porridge, it turns brown. When you bathe children with this water, they develop the flu,” Josephine Murebwayire, a resident of Kabarore sector in Nyagatare.