It is another global handwashing day

A couple of years ago, a friend shared a story of how he visited a family friend and helped them give their dogs a bath, and he also rubbed some medication on the dogs.

He told me he suddenly developed a stomach ache after eating. It later dawned on him that he did not wash his hands before picking up the food he ate!

During the COVID outbreak, I made a very hilarious post on my WhatsApp status that “If you are my friend and you work in a hospital, please, do not visit me.” Obviously, it generated a lot of funny reactions. The COVID outbreak made us hand-washing heroes.

Every 15th of October is the Global Handwashing Day. Let us find out what it is all about. In 2008, Global Handwashing Day was celebrated for the first time. This day aims to make people around the world aware of the importance of washing their hands with soap to prevent diseases and infections.

To commemorate this day, over 120 million children in 70 countries were encouraged to practice handwashing with soap. Since then, the movement has built momentum, garnering support from various stakeholders such as governments, schools, NGOs and private firms.

Key purposes and goals

Disease prevention: Educates the public on how proper hand hygiene cuts down the spread of pathogens, reducing diarrhoeal illnesses by roughly 30 per cent to 48 per cent and acute respiratory infections by about 20 per cent.

Behaviour change: Fosters a global and local culture of clean hands by encouraging schools, families, communities and governments to build handwashing habits at critical moments.

Highlighting infrastructure gaps: Draws attention to the state of water, sanitation, and hygiene access across different countries and advocates for better facilities in schools, workplaces, and healthcare settings.

Empowering communities: Mobilises people of all ages, from young children to leaders, to act as “handwashing heroes” who champion hygiene in their local areas.

Global Handwashing Day and World Hand Hygiene Day are not the same day. They have different dates, organisers, and primary focuses.

World Hand Hygiene Day is celebrated every May 5, and it was introduced and led by the World Health Organisation. It primarily targets health-care workers and clinical settings to improve hand hygiene compliance, prevent health care-associated infections and protect patients and staff.

Global Handwashing Day, on the other hand, is celebrated every October 15. It was established by international stakeholders and the Global Handwashing Partnership.

It is a global advocacy campaign aimed at the general public, schools and communities to promote handwashing with soap as an affordable way to prevent disease and save lives.

The song hummed or sung during handwashing is the standard “Happy Birthday” tune, which health agencies like the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention recommend.

Singing or humming the song from start to finish twice takes roughly 20 seconds, which is the minimum time needed to effectively remove germs, dirt and pathogens with soap and water.

Let us see some benefits of handwashing:

Prevents the spread of germs: Soap and water remove bacteria, viruses and other microbes that you pick up from public surfaces and people.

Reduces the risk of infections: Routine hand hygiene lowers the frequency of catching common colds, flu and COVID-19 by 16 per cent to 21 per cent.

Lowers diarrhoeal illnesses: Washing hands with soap reduces diarrhoeal disease-associated sickness by 23 per cent to 40 per cent globally.

Protects vulnerable populations: It shields infants, older adults and people with compromised immune systems—who suffer a 58 per cent drop in diarrhoeal risk from proper hand hygiene—from severe complications.

Ensures safe food preparation: Clean hands stop foodborne pathogens (like Salmonella and Norovirus) from transferring from unwashed fingers to raw or ready-to-eat food.

Prevents eye, skin and mucosal infections: It stops bacteria from moving into vulnerable entry points when you rub your eyes, touch your nose or handle facial areas.

Reduces antibiotic resistance: By cutting down on the total number of common bacterial and viral infections you contract, proper handwashing directly decreases unnecessary antibiotic prescriptions.

Removes faecal contamination: Proper handwashing after using the bathroom or changing diapers eliminates microscopic faecal germs that cause stomach flu and norovirus.

Protects others around you: It stops you from depositing transient germs onto shared surfaces like doorknobs, phones, keyboards and handrails.

Cuts down school and work absenteeism: Fewer preventable community illnesses mean fewer missed days of school for children and lower productivity loss in workplaces.

Promotes general personal hygiene and community health: Building a consistent daily habit reinforces overall wellness and lowers the burden on healthcare systems.

Keeps pets and animals safe: Washing hands after touching animals or cleaning pet areas stops the transfer of zoonotic germs between species.

The following surfaces are often touched by many people; you need to wash your hands after touching them:

Doorknobs

Railings

Outdoor dumpsters or trash cans

Light switches

Gas pumps

ATMs

Shopping carts or baskets

You should also wash your hands in the following situations:

Before, during, and after preparing or cooking food, which is especially important if you touch raw chicken, eggs, meat or fish.

Before eating or drinking, for personal care, intimate activities and first aid, after using the toilet, both at home or in a public restroom.

After changing a baby’s diaper or helping a small child use the toilet, before changing contact lenses, after blowing your nose, sneezing or coughing, especially if you are sick.

Before taking medications, such as pills or eye drops, before and after sexual or intimate activity, before treating a burn or wound, either on yourself or someone else, after tending to a person who is ill.

Before and after using public transportation, especially if you hold onto the railings on buses and subways, after handling money or receipts, after handling household or commercial garbage and after coming into contact with visibly dirty surfaces or when your hands are visibly dirty.

Other settings:

Before and after treating clients if you are a cosmetologist, beautician, tattoo artist or aesthetician

Before and after entering a hospital, doctor’s office, nursing home or another type of medical facility

For pet care: After feeding your pet, especially if they eat raw food and after walking your dog or handling animal waste.

Below is hand washing technique endorsed by the CDC and WHO):

Wet your hands with clean, running water (warm or cold), and apply soap.

Lather your hands by rubbing them together with the soap.

Scrub for at least 20 seconds. Be sure to clean:

• Palm to palm
• The back of each hand and in between your fingers
• Interlocked fingers and knuckles
• Both thumbs using a rotational grip
• Fingertips and under your fingernails against the opposite palm

Rinse your hands well under clean, running water. Dry your hands completely using a clean, single-use towel or an air dryer. Use the towel to turn off the tap so you do not recontaminate your clean hands.

A study titled The Effect of Handwashing with Water or Soap on Bacterial Contamination of Hands by Maxine Burton et al. concludes that handwashing with non-antibacterial soap is much more effective in removing bacteria from hands than handwashing with water only.

Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (Syndigate.info).