The World Health Organization invites you to celebrate World Handwashing Day every October 15 to raise awareness about a habit that can save lives, since this practice is one of the most effective ways to prevent the spread of many diseases.
It is essential to teach children the importance of incorporating hand hygiene, because it is known that the habits acquired at an early age are those that will last throughout life.
Facts to remember
-Washing your hands only with water is not enough. Using water alone is significantly less effective than incorporating soap, since using it makes rubbing easier, dissolves grease, and removes dirt that contains most germs. If used properly, all soaps are equally effective in removing disease-causing germs.
Wet hands should be covered with soap and rub the entire surface, including the palms, backs, between the fingers, and especially under the nails, for at least 20 seconds. Then, they should be rinsed well under running water and dried, either with a clean cloth or by shaking your hands. An easy way to calculate the 20 seconds is to find a familiar song that takes that long to sing; For example, it takes about 20 seconds to sing the “Happy Birthday” song twice.
-Washing your hands with soap can prevent illness. It is one of the most effective ways to prevent diarrheal diseases and pneumonia, which together are responsible for the majority of childhood deaths. It can also prevent skin infections, eye infections, intestinal parasites, SARS, avian flu, H1/N1 influenza, COVID-19 and brings health benefits to people living with HIV/AIDS.
-The key times to wash hands with soap are after using the bathroom or cleaning a child and before handling food. Hands should be washed with soap after using the bathroom, after cleaning up a child’s feces (or after any other contact with human excreta, including that of babies and children), and before handling food. Hands are the main carriers of disease-causing germs. It is important to ensure that people have facilities to wash their hands at these critical moments.
-Handwashing with soap is the most effective health intervention. The promotion of handwashing is more efficient and cost-effective, compared to the financing required by other health interventions. Investing in the promotion of handwashing brings similar health benefits as an investment in the construction of latrines, or an investment of thousands of dollars in immunization.
Global appeal
According to Unicef data, although washing hands with soap is essential in the fight against infectious diseases, around the world around 3 in 10 people, some 2.3 billion, do not have basic facilities to wash their hands with soap and water in home. This situation is even worse in less developed countries, with more than 6 in 10 people without access to basic hand hygiene.
