Paschim Paaila and Environment and Public Health Organization (ENPHO) jointly organized the 6th series of WASH FORUM Reloaded on “COVID-19 and WASH” on 15 May 2020 on zoom meeting platform. The program was organized with an objective to share information about COVID-19 and its present status with the highlight of a session on linkages of COVID-19 and WASH.
Mr. Sudan Raj Panthi, National Professional Officer, Environmental Health at World Health Organization (WHO) resided as a resource person in the program. During the program, the epidemic curve of laboratory-confirmed COVID-19, its chain of transmission, and elements of standard precautions were shared. The resource person gave more focus on preventive measures in concern to hand hygiene and respiratory hygiene and insisted that maintaining hand-hygiene is a key preventive measure of COVID-19 pandemic. Apart from personal hygiene information showing importance regarding decontamination, principles of cleaning and health care waste management during this state of COVID-19 pandemic was also explained by National Professional Officer of WHO Mr. Sudan Raj Panthi.
More than 55 participants actively attended a session of WASH FORUM Reloaded on the zoom platform and put forward queries during the Q&A session.
WASH FORUM Reloaded is a modified platform of WASH FORUM for an interaction session with the idea of entrepreneurship in WASH. The forum provides a platform for knowledge sharing, advocacy, and ideas generating to improve the status of water, sanitation, and hygiene creating opportunities for economic growth through partnership. WASH FORUM was organized since April 2010, was a monthly interaction forum for information and knowledge sharing and advocacy regarding Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) and disasters/epidemics as a social issue, not merely confined to these sectors, however. In this forum, basically hot issues, concerns, and initiatives of WASH were being focused and its inter-related issues as well. The forum tried to address the voices of diversified youth communities and WASH professionals. WASH FORUM and WASH FORUM Reloaded is organized with the mutual effort of Paschim Paaila and ENPHO.
Paschim Paaila” is a youth-led network, established on July 17, 2009, working primarily on environmental health with Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) and disasters/epidemics, envisioning environmentally sound and healthy communities through advocacy and dissemination of information. Youths continuously intervene via support and collaboration with other organizations and concerned stakeholders, working in this sector. ENPHO is providing the secretariat to Paschim Paaila.
