Handwashing : Wash hands properly and avoid diseases
Protect children from diarrhoea, pneumonia and respiratory diseases
Special on Global Handwashing Day
Corona has well understood the importance of complete hand hygiene to everyone. By keeping hands clean, not only corona but many other types of infectious diseases can be avoided, because many diseases enter inside the body through the mouth and nose through hands. Global Handwashing Day (World Handwashing Day) is celebrated every year on 15 October to make the community fully aware about this.
Dr. Piyali Bhattacharya, Senior Pediatrician, SGPGI-Lucknow, says that reports show that about 17 percent of the total deaths of children in the age group of zero to five years are due to pneumonia and 13 percent due to diarrhea. If full care is taken of hand hygiene, then the lives of children can be saved by definitely reducing this figure. In the initial days, children come under the grip of these two diseases many times because after touching things here and there, they put their fingers in their mouth or they eat or drink something with the same unseen dirt-filled hands and the same diarrhea becomes the main reason. Due to prolonged exposure to diarrhea, children are also exposed to malnutrition which affects their entire life cycle. That is why it is necessary to inculcate the habit of proper hand hygiene in children and try to incorporate it in their behaviour. It should be noted that the mother washes hands thoroughly with soap and water for 40 seconds before touching and feeding the child, before preparing and eating food, immediately after coughing and sneezing, after taking care of sick persons and after defecation. Be sure to wash To avoid corona, after coming home from outside, wash hands and feet thoroughly with soap and water, only then enter inside. Apart from this, wash or sanitize hands even after touching any object or surface. Dr. Surya Kant, chairman of the Department of Respiratory Medicine, King George’s Medical University, says that many respiratory diseases are born due to lack of proper hand hygiene. It is also a major cause of throat infection. After washing hands thoroughly, people wipe them with a cloth, which does not make any sense for that cleaning, so after washing hands, dry them in the air and protect yourself from infection. Six major steps have been given to clean hands properly with soap and water, which can be understood by Suman-K method. S means first wash the right hand with soap and water, U- then wash the opposite hand, M-then wash the fist by rubbing, A- wash the thumb, N-wash the nails and K- wash the wrist thoroughly . With this method, the habit of cleaning hands should be inculcated in children from childhood and its importance should also be explained.
Take special care of hand hygiene in these situations
▪️Before preparing and eating food
after defecation
▪️Before touching a newborn
▪️After coughing or sneezing
▪️After care of sick persons
▪️After garbage disposal
