Over 50% of Healthcare-Associated Infections happen due to the hand of healthcare providers. The majority of health care workers end up not washing their hands because of different reasons. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the proportion of handwashing coverage and the associated factors among health care workers in public and private health care facilities in Ndejje division, Makindye Ssabagabo municipality, Wakiso district. A descriptive cross-sectional study design was conducted employing both quantitative and qualitative methods of data collection. A total of 350 health care workers were interviewed using a self-administered structured open-ended paper questionnaire. Focus Group Discussions (FGD) guide and an observation paper checklist were also employed for data collection process. The quantitative data was entered in Epidata and exported to SPSS for descriptive univariate analysis. The qualitative data was analyzed manually by thematic analysis to generate codes, subthemes, and key themes. Our results showed that female health care workers constituted the majority of the respondents 205 (58.6%). The majority 324 (92.6%) of health care workers were from private health facilities. We found out that the proportion of handwashing facilities coverage was 97.7%. Removal of germs 317 (95.5%) was reported as the major reason for washing hands. Health care workers reported that handwashing with soap and water was at times being substituted with the use of a hand sanitizer due to its convenience. The proportion of handwashing was good coupled with positive attitude towards handwashing. Being a nurse was highly associated with washing hands in both private and public health facilities. High hand washing proportion was attributed to the COVID-19 guidelines which sparked adherence to the standard operating procedures. Different stakeholders should sustain this current handwashing which will curb Water, Sanitation and Hygiene related diseases.

Introduction Environmental health professionals (EHPs) in Uganda refer to Environmental Health Officers, Health Inspectors and Health Assistants who are all responsible for implementing interventions to prevent disease occurrences. These EHPs either work in the public or private sector in various capacities, and their practice is regulated by the Ministry of Health under the Allied Health Professionals Council which is mandated by an Act of Parliament. We therefore assessed the professional competencies and training needs of EHPs across the country. Methods We conducted an online cross-sectional quantitative survey among 360 EHPs in Uganda. Data was collected using a self-administered questionnaire embedded in Google Forms. the questionnaire was sent to various EHPs in Uganda across various platforms particularly social mediaand the collected data was analyzed using Microsoft Excel 2016 and Stata version 12. Results Among the respondents, 141 (40.4%) were working as Health Assistants followed by Health Inspectors 84 (24%). Premise inspection and monitoring came out as a key professional competence for many the respondents 276 (68.1%). The training needs identified in the survey were: need to improve their skills in areas of surveillance 230 (56.8%), sanitation marketing techniques (including Community Led Total Sanitation, Participatory Hygiene and Sanitation Transformation, and Children's Hygiene and Sanitation Training) and water quality testing 231(57.0%). The survey also identified crucial areas such as health education and communication, disease surveillance and school health (67%) to be lacking among the EHPs. Conclusion There is need for training institutions under the Ministry of Education and Sports, and professional governing agencies under the Ministry of Health to put more emphasis on skills in surveillance and sanitation marketing techniques during training and curriculum design for EHPs. In addition, refresher trainings among EHPs are needed to enhance their knowledge and skills as a form of continuous professional development.