Hand washing: The shield against a third of diseases
Sep 09, 2007
DID you know that by washing your hands you avoid contracting nearly one third of diseases and death caused by environmental exposure? <br>
By Halima Shaban
DID you know that by washing your hands you avoid contracting nearly one third of diseases and death caused by environmental exposure?
Washing hands can significantly reduce diarrhoea, as well as skin infections, trachoma and respiratory infections. It may be more effective than vaccines.
The Uganda Water and Sanitation Network (UWASNET) programme liaison officer, Alex Mbaguta, says studies in the food service industry indicate that inadequate washing of hands and cross-contamination is responsible for about 40% of food borne illnesses.
About 70 million cases of food poisoning in Uganda each year, result in increased healthcare costs and about 10,000 deaths per year. A third of our population is, especially vulnerable to infection. These include pregnant women, children and old people and those with weakened immune systems.
Yet according to research, only 4% of the population in rural areas and 6% in urban areas have a basin, soap and water for hand washing.
Patrick Mulindwa, a medical officer at Mulago Hospital, says some people forget to wash their hands after using the toilet.
These germs can spread infections to them and others who get in contact with items they have touched.
He says many diseases are spread indirectly by infected people who cough or sneeze into their hands, leaving respiratory discharges that can be picked up by other people whom they touch or shake hands with.
In line with this, UWASNET recently launched a $318,000 (about sh557m) hand washing campaign targeting mothers with children less than five years and of school-going age.
The campaign is aimed at reducing thousands of preventable deaths every year caused by diarrhoeal disease and acute respiratory infections like pneumonia.
It is being piloted for three months in Mbale, Kiboga, Kampala, Kabale and Lira districts because of their inaccessibility to water.
Washing your hands is easy to learn and can significantly reduce the spread of infectious diseases. Dr Zac Serubidde, a physician at Africa Air Rescue, says after malaria, 21% of acute respiratory infections and 17% of diarrhoeal diseases are the biggest killers of infants. Washing hands with soap can reduce this.
Many diarrhoeal diseases like cholera, dysentery and intestinal worms are spread by ingesting tiny organisms present in faeces, often referred to as faecal-oral diseases. Diarrhoea is a major killer of young children and is responsible for 19% of infant deaths in Uganda.
“Globally, about 6,000 children die everyday due to diarrhoeal diseases. Washing hands with soap and water could cut this figure by half,†Mbaguta says.
Mulindwa says up to 25% of women who deliver their babies in unhygienic places die from childbed fever (puerperal sepsis), an infectious disease caused by Streptococcus pyogenes bacteria, which is passed on to pregnant women from birth attendants.
A research done by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine estimates that washing your hands with soap could reduce diarrhoeal disease by 42-46% and acute respiratory infections by 39%. Therefore, promoting washing your hands might save a million lives.
“It is a common misunderstanding that these diseases are only spread when people drink contaminated water.
One can also get the germs through contamination of food by dirty hands. It is also possible to get the infection without food or drinks, for instance by touching the mouth with dirty fingers,†says Serubidde.
Mulindwa says washing hands has a double action. It washes off the organisms that cause faecal-oral disease. Organisms survive longer on dirty hands.
The way we wash hands also matters. It is best to use running water.
Soap is present in most households worldwide, but it is commonly used for bathing and laundry, not washing hands. Lack of water is usually not a problem either, as hands can be cleaned with little, or recycled, water.
“In Uganda, the cause of less hand washing is rarely due to lack of soap; it is just not a habit. About 95% of households have soap and only 85% believe that using soap is good, but only 16% wash their hands with soap. The challenge remains — to make washing your hands with soap a habit and a social norm on a worldwide basis,†says Mbaguta
Serubidde says washing hands with soap after visiting the toilet and before feeding a child reduces the expenditure on treating avoidable diseases and saves lives.
He adds that soap pulls soil and the oily dirt away from the skin. The lather traps the germs. Children should be encouraged to wash hands with soap before eating, after playing, using the bathroom and blowing their noses.
If one cannot readily find soap, Mulindwa advises use of anti-bacterial gels.
How to wash
Rub soap in wet hands until lather forms
Wash between fingers and under the nails
Rinse with water and shake your hands until they dry, or use a towel
After using the toilet
After cleaning the baby’s bottom
Before eating and preparing food
DID you know that by washing your hands you avoid contracting nearly one third of diseases and death caused by environmental exposure?
Washing hands can significantly reduce diarrhoea, as well as skin infections, trachoma and respiratory infections. It may be more effective than vaccines.
The Uganda Water and Sanitation Network (UWASNET) programme liaison officer, Alex Mbaguta, says studies in the food service industry indicate that inadequate washing of hands and cross-contamination is responsible for about 40% of food borne illnesses.
About 70 million cases of food poisoning in Uganda each year, result in increased healthcare costs and about 10,000 deaths per year. A third of our population is, especially vulnerable to infection. These include pregnant women, children and old people and those with weakened immune systems.
Yet according to research, only 4% of the population in rural areas and 6% in urban areas have a basin, soap and water for hand washing.
Patrick Mulindwa, a medical officer at Mulago Hospital, says some people forget to wash their hands after using the toilet.
These germs can spread infections to them and others who get in contact with items they have touched.
He says many diseases are spread indirectly by infected people who cough or sneeze into their hands, leaving respiratory discharges that can be picked up by other people whom they touch or shake hands with.
In line with this, UWASNET recently launched a $318,000 (about sh557m) hand washing campaign targeting mothers with children less than five years and of school-going age.
The campaign is aimed at reducing thousands of preventable deaths every year caused by diarrhoeal disease and acute respiratory infections like pneumonia.
It is being piloted for three months in Mbale, Kiboga, Kampala, Kabale and Lira districts because of their inaccessibility to water.
Washing your hands is easy to learn and can significantly reduce the spread of infectious diseases. Dr Zac Serubidde, a physician at Africa Air Rescue, says after malaria, 21% of acute respiratory infections and 17% of diarrhoeal diseases are the biggest killers of infants. Washing hands with soap can reduce this.
Many diarrhoeal diseases like cholera, dysentery and intestinal worms are spread by ingesting tiny organisms present in faeces, often referred to as faecal-oral diseases. Diarrhoea is a major killer of young children and is responsible for 19% of infant deaths in Uganda.
“Globally, about 6,000 children die everyday due to diarrhoeal diseases. Washing hands with soap and water could cut this figure by half,†Mbaguta says.
Mulindwa says up to 25% of women who deliver their babies in unhygienic places die from childbed fever (puerperal sepsis), an infectious disease caused by Streptococcus pyogenes bacteria, which is passed on to pregnant women from birth attendants.
A research done by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine estimates that washing your hands with soap could reduce diarrhoeal disease by 42-46% and acute respiratory infections by 39%. Therefore, promoting washing your hands might save a million lives.
“It is a common misunderstanding that these diseases are only spread when people drink contaminated water.
One can also get the germs through contamination of food by dirty hands. It is also possible to get the infection without food or drinks, for instance by touching the mouth with dirty fingers,†says Serubidde.
Mulindwa says washing hands has a double action. It washes off the organisms that cause faecal-oral disease. Organisms survive longer on dirty hands.
The way we wash hands also matters. It is best to use running water.
Soap is present in most households worldwide, but it is commonly used for bathing and laundry, not washing hands. Lack of water is usually not a problem either, as hands can be cleaned with little, or recycled, water.
“In Uganda, the cause of less hand washing is rarely due to lack of soap; it is just not a habit. About 95% of households have soap and only 85% believe that using soap is good, but only 16% wash their hands with soap. The challenge remains — to make washing your hands with soap a habit and a social norm on a worldwide basis,†says Mbaguta
Serubidde says washing hands with soap after visiting the toilet and before feeding a child reduces the expenditure on treating avoidable diseases and saves lives.
He adds that soap pulls soil and the oily dirt away from the skin. The lather traps the germs. Children should be encouraged to wash hands with soap before eating, after playing, using the bathroom and blowing their noses.
If one cannot readily find soap, Mulindwa advises use of anti-bacterial gels.
How to wash
Rub soap in wet hands until lather forms
Wash between fingers and under the nails
Rinse with water and shake your hands until they dry, or use a towel
After using the toilet
After cleaning the baby’s bottom
Before eating and preparing food