Washing out hands with soap and water is something most of us do routinely, we don’t even think about it as we wash out hands after going to the toilet, dusting the furniture, walking the dog or after any other chores we think may have brought us in contact with germs or dirt. In some communities, handwashing with soap is not ingrained in the culture. That is one of the reasons for global handwashing day: to encourage community where handwashing with soap is not a common routine, to adopt the habit.
Why is washing your hands with soap and water important?
Every year, 1.7 million children do not live to celebrate their fifth birthday because of diarrhoea and pneumonia. Handwashing with soap is among the most effective and inexpensive ways to prevent these diseases. This simple behaviour can save lives, cutting diarrhoea by almost one-half and acute respiratory infections by nearly one-quarter.
Researchers in London estimate that if everyone routinely washed their hands, a million deaths a year could be prevented. From doorknobs to animals to food, harmful germs can live on almost everything. Handwashing may be your single most important act to help stop the spread of infection and stay healthy.
Handwashing with soap impacts not just health and nutrition, but also education, economics, and equity. In WaSH lingo this is known as the HN3E argument.
today the 15th of October is global handwashing day
To draw attention to the importance of handwashing, Hope Spring Water is participating in the global handwashing day advocacy. We will be tweeting about the importance of handwashing all day today. We also bring you link to some important handwashing related contents such as videos and documents about handwashing.
#GlobalHandwashingDay Tweets
Here are some of the tweets we will be posting to our tweeter page as part of #GlobalHandwashingDay:
Today is #GlobalHandwashingDay, so I am raising a hand for hygiene and
pledge to always wash my hands
after using the toilet. Will you do the same?
Clean hands stop germs! Do you wash them correctly? Find out here: http://go.usa.gov/XpVw
#GlobalHandwashingDay
Why #GlobalHandwashing Day? B/C 1 trillion germs can live in 1 gram of poop (abt weight of a paper clip)!
http://bit.ly/1JUaOrD
Handwashing w/soap is a
“do-it-yourself” vaccine that can help keep you & your family healthy! http://bit.ly/1NqZEcZ
#GlobalHandwashingDay