Eating, touching your face or putting your hands in your mouth are gestures that children often do without being aware of the risk involved if they do not have clean hands. Today, October 15, World Handwashing Day is celebrated because it is very necessary that we know that this gesture can avoid many diseases and even save lives.
Washing your hands properly with soap and warm water would avoid many cases of diarrhea and malnutrition in the world, as UNICEF warns. According to their data, more than 1600 children die every day from diarrhea diseases, something that could be reduced with good hygiene and nutrition habits.
For children under five years of age this is especially important, since diarrhea is one of the main causes of malnutrition in many parts of the world. In countries with lower incomes, the practice of handwashing is less common (and the consequences of not carrying it out, more serious), but not only in these countries must we act.
Washing your hands well is important for anyone, in any environment. It is a first step to defend against germs and diseases such as cold and flu and other more serious diseases such as meningitis, bronchiolitis, infectious diarrhea ... We must not forget about it and we must try to get our children to have this habit.
For the correct hand washing you only need to follow a few steps and take special care at this time:
- Before eating
- Before cooking or handling food
- Before touching a baby
- After going to the bathroom
- After changing the diaper
- After coughing, sneezing, blowing your nose ...
- After visiting or caring for the sick
- After cleaning if chemical substances have been handled
- After playing with pets
- After smoking
- After littering
For about 60 seconds, you have to rub both hands (palm and back) well with a little soap, cleaning well between the fingers, nails and even the wrists. Rinse thoroughly with running water and dry with a clean towel.
In 2015 the theme of this date for the Pan American Health Organization and the World Health Organization is "raise your hand for hygiene", raise your hand as an act of affiliation to this gesture so that it becomes a social norm. In addition, raising your hand you could count how many people wash their hands and have access to hygiene facilities in housing, schools and medical care facilities, to act where there is more need.
Definitely, World Handwashing Day It poses an important challenge and reminds us of the vitality of universal access to water and sanitation. After all, many lives are at stake, as UNICEF points out: less diarrhea and less malnutrition is more life.
