The Ministry of Health and Social Services has joined the international community in observing World Health Clean-up Day to promote public health and environmental sustainability.

The ministry's acting Executive Director, Jeremia Nghipundjwa, says the main idea is not just to celebrate the day but to raise awareness and educate the public.

"It's very important that we keep our surroundings clean so that we remain in a healthy and safe environment. What we are doing here today is also something that we want to cultivate as a culture, not only at the workplace  but also in the community. We also want to pass this on to our children. We want to pass it on to the members of the public to let them know the importance of keeping the environment clean."

While highlighting the importance of the clean-up campaign, Nghipundjwa also added that the initiative will restore community pride.

"And also developing a responsibility of just keeping it clean all the time we have, for example, times when somebody is throwing, you know, litter out of a car, out of a moving car, out of a window, we want to develop a culture of, you know, picking up reviews and putting them in rubbish bins. So that is really the importance of this event."

The cleanup day was marked across the country.