Wash hands with soap, not just for Covid-19
It shouldn’t take a global disaster to remind us that we need to adopt
this vital hygiene habit
Covid-19 has shut down the world. Crowded metros like Mumbai and Delhi are like a postapocalyptic
tundra with mask-wearing, beleaguered citizens and eerily-empty shopping areas. Ironically, the shutdown
has led to a reduction in air pollution in countries like China and India, potentially preventing thousands of
deaths. The State of Global Air 2019 report puts air pollution deaths in India alone at over 1.2 million.
There is another thin silver lining to the cloud of fear and paranoia: People have started washing their
hands with soap regularly. This personal hygiene practice which is crucial for our health should be a part
of our daily routine. Somewhere at the back of our minds we’ve always known this. Over the decades,
there have been numerous public and commercial campaigns highlighting the importance of washing with
soap, because soap is an effective germkilling agent.
Yet, according to a 2017 report of the World Health Organisation, each year something as commonplace as
seasonal flu kills up to 6.5 lakh people globally. To a large extent this can be prevented merely by making
sure everyone washes their hands with soap regularly. But for some reason, many of us have simply
refused to adopt this habit. A cursory glance at any public bathroom — men’s or women’s — at a mall or
an airport will reveal that only a fraction of people wash their hands with soap after using the services. It
has taken a pandemic to change this.
The belief that water alone is enough for cleansing is not unique to India. A 2010 study conducted in
Bangladesh, published in the journal BMC Public Health, found that the number of Bangladeshis who
washed hands with soap was “consistently low”, a large number of them believing water to be a “potent
purifying agent”. The visual imagery of clean hands triggers a sense of false confidence in people, even as
they pass on invisible germs to those they come in contact with. Quite apart from others, such people can
seriously harm themselves, too.
Not washing hands properly is directly related to malnutrition and stunting in India. Eating with unclean
hands leads to infectious diseases. Repeated bouts of such diseases, like diarrhoea and environmental
enteric dysfunction, lead to critical losses of both micro and macro nutrients, and are the leading causes of
child stunting in the country. “India has one of the highest stunting rates in the world. Frequent handmouth contact, a potential source of bacteria, viruses and parasites, is most widespread among children,”
says Madhavika Bajoria, from Impact4Nutrition Secretariat, a public-private engagement platform that
aims to spread nutrition messaging to the last mile. “Limiting child exposure to pathogens through
strategic interventions like hand washing can be critical in reversing the abysmal childhood stunting trend
in India.”
By following the misplaced “if it’s not looking dirty, it’s clean” notion, we pose a grave health risk to our
children and ourselves. Instilling best hygiene practices at a young age will translate into a fitter, healthier
future generation. In 2015, Sight and Life, a global non-profit working against malnutrition, initiated an
18-month nutrition and sanitation programme in Karnataka — in partnership with PATH, Karuna Trust and
Akshaya Patra — to get teachers to motivate students to practice positive hygiene and nutrition
behaviours. “Through games, rhymes, ambassadors and fun activities, we inculcated lasting behaviour
change in 2,600 schools in four districts. Key practices include washing hands with soap,” says Kalpana
Beesabathuni, Global Lead-Technology & Entrepreneurship, Sight and Life. The focus was also on
balanced nutrition, but without hygiene and sanitation, the fight against stunting is incomplete. This kind
of intervention is required across India on a war footing today.
Recognising this, in 2018, the Government of India’s POSHAN Abhiyaan (National Nutrition Mission)
included hand washing and sanitation in the key mass behaviour changes required to tackle malnutrition
and stunting.
Internationally, each year on October 15, Global Handwashing Day aims to drive home the importance of
washing with soap in saving lives and keeping us healthy.
In 2019, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the US launched a ‘Life is Better with Clean
Hands’ campaign much before the coronavirus hit us like an avalanche. Its main message is to highlight
the crucial times in the day you must wash your hands with soap.
“Research shows that to prevent infectious diseases and resulting nutritional imbalances, hand washing is
most critical after toilet use and before food preparation,” says Bajoria.
Chinese, Indian or American — adult or minor — you should also wash your hands with soap if you are
unwell, sneezing or coughing; before and after you handle raw meats; and after using public transport.
Remember this even after Covid-19 is history. Until then, keep calm and don’t sneeze into your palm.
Source: 19/03/2020
