“95% of people don’t wash their hands properly”.
Most of the people don’t wash their hands long enough; it should be done for at least 20 seconds. The World Health Organization recommends the following steps to ensure safe hands:
Wet your hands with clean, running water. The temperature doesn’t influence the effectiveness of hand washing. Turn off the tap, and apply soap.
– Rub your hands with soap and don’t forget areas like the nails, the back of the hands and between the fingers.
– Scrub your hands for at least 20 seconds, you can sing ‘happy birthday’ twice while rubbing to make sure that you do it long enough.
– Rinse your hands under clean water.
– Use a clean towel or a hand dryer to dry your hands. Dry hands are harder for germs to multiply on.
When to wash your hands?
When we think about when to wash hands, the first thing that pops up in the mind is after using the toilet. But it should also be done in those situations:
– Before, during and after handling food, cooking and before eating. Many foodborne illnesses could be avoided with a good hand washing.
– Before and after caring for a sick one;
– Before and after treating a cut or wound. Bacteria enter the body through cuts and wounds.
– After using the toilet;
– After changing diapers;
– After blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing. A single sneeze can spread more than 100 000 germs around. Cover your mouth when sneezing and wash your hands after.
– After touching an animal, or its waste or feeding the latter. Animals carry germs transferrable to humans.
– After touching garbage.
What to do if soap and water aren’t available?
Hand Sanitizers are a good alternative when soap and water aren’t available. Choose a sanitizer containing at least 60% of alcohol. They kill most of the germs and are effective if your hands aren’t visibly dirty.
Sources:
Isd423. 2015. BREAK THE CHAIN. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.isd423.org/break-the-chain/.
CDC. 2010. Hygiene Fast Facts. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/hygiene/fast_facts.html.
About Education. 2015. How Soap Cleans. [ONLINE] Available at: http://chemistry.about.com/od/cleanerchemistry/a/how-soap-cleans.htm.
World Health Organization. 2009. Hand Hygiene: Why, How & When?. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.who.int/gpsc/5may/Hand_Hygiene_Why_How_and_When_Brochure.pdf.
