A study finds that 23% deaths caused by acute respiratory infections can be prevented through proper handwashing habits. PIONEER HEALTH reports
Proper hand washing may seem trivial to some, but it is more important than many realise — in schools, in healthcare facilities, and in the home. Particularly at a time when lethal Coronavirus — a variant of the common cold virus — is making alarming headlines. The death toll in China from the novel coronavirus epidemic has jumped to 908 and the number of confirmed cases has risen over 40,000, according to reports on Monday.
Experts say it is not the masks but hand washing that will help in to keep the disease at a bay. The WHO has come out with a guidelines on handwashing with soap to prevent Coronavirus.
“One of the most important ways of stopping respiratory outbreaks such as this is washing hands,” David Heymann, who led WHO’s infectious disease unit at the time of the SARS epidemic in 2002-2003, said recently at a Chatham House press briefing in London.
That’s because “if you touch a patient, if you shake hands, if you touch a door that has a droplet on it — which could theoretically happen — then you touch your face (or) your mouth and you become infected.”
“So, handwashing is the most important. Second, people who are suspected as being patients, be very careful when you are dealing with them. Avoid face-to-face contact and wash hands when you’re treating,” Heymann says.
The outbreak of the deadly Coronavirus, which is thought to have originated in Wuhan, China has been recognised as a global health emergency.
Apart from Coronavirus, there are many other reasons to wash hands too — it is a most important protective health measure.
Experts say that this is often neglected but it is the most cost-effective intervention that can help avert 40 per cent of diarrhoeal disease deaths and 23 per cent of deaths due to respiratory infection deaths.
The UNICEF India points out the importance of hand washing, noting its connection with diarrhoea — the most common cause of infectious disease outbreaks in India and the second most common cause of death among children under five worldwide according to the WHO. Every day, at least 1,300 children die due to diarrhoea and diseases linked to infections of the respiratory tract. Of these deaths, 320 happen in India.
As UNICEF notes, of the 1.5 million child deaths which occur yearly due to diarrhoeal diseases, 40 percent can be prevented by handwashing with soap at critical times — including before eating or preparing food and after using the toilet.
Similarly, acute respiratory infection deaths can be prevented 23 per cent of the time by proper handwashing practices and the habit can also be linked to a number of improved health outcomes. New born survival rates improve by 55 per cent if proper handwashing practice is followed, whilst controlling the spread of infectious diseases and viruses ranging from pneumonia to severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) can be bolstered if handwashing is helped.
Handwashing is also among the most simple ways of reducing the risk of hospital-acquired infections, which occur at a rate of one in every four hospital visits in India. Hygiene has been pinpointed as a major driver of this. Doctors say that for viral infections including the common cold and flu, the most effective way to protect yourself is regular handwashing with warm water and soap plus the vigilance to resist touching your nose and mouth.
In view of importance of this simple but important health practice, the WHO has announced October 15 as a the Global handwashing Day, a day dedicated to increasing awareness and understanding of the importance of handwashing with soap as an effective and affordable way to prevent diseases and save lives. However, despite Government stress on this important hygiene practice, handwashing habits in India are poor among the populace. According to a study in 2017, “only 26.3 per cent washed hands before child feeding, 14.7 per cent before breastfeeding, 16.7 per cent after disposing child faeces, and 18.4 per cent after cleaning a child’s bottom.”
Practice healthy habits
The whole process should take 40 to 60 seconds.