Abstract:
The purpose of the study was to assess knowledge and practice of hand hygiene among Junior High School students in the Jomoro Municipality. The study was conducted in the Jomoro District among three selected schools in the district. An exploratory cross-sectional survey was used in the study. Quota sampling method was used to select 295 students to participate in the study. A self- administered questionnaire was used for the data collection. The data gathered was analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 23. The study found that 100.0% of the respondents have heard of hand hygiene before from their parents, teachers and from television. Majority (86.4%) of the respondents washed their hands before meal and some 48.1% washed their hands after meal. However, closed to half 69.8% sometimes washed their hand when they returned from school. Most of the students (83.7%) had hand sanitizer; two schools had plastic containers with a tap for clean running water made available to the school children for rinsing their hands. It was observed that all the schools had alcohol-based hand rub or sanitizers. The study concluded that majority of the students from the three schools had fair knowledge on hand hygiene and practiced good hand hygiene at critical times. The study recommended that adequate potable water, hand hygiene information and provision of sanitary aids for both students and teacher usage in the schools should be provided by administrators and government to support and sustain the acquired knowledge and practices relating to hand hygiene.
