The WHO has termed diarrhoeal disease as the second leading cause of death in children under 5 worldwide. However diseases like these are very preventable. Taking a step to ensure children across the world have a healthy future, a day was designated in 2008 to create awareness about a simple way to prevent a lot of diseases. Global Handwashing day 2016 is all about making handwashing a habit amongst the kids from a very young age.
Make handwashing a habit
Washing hands properly with soap and water can help protect people especially kids from a multitude of diseases. Sadly often due to lack of time, or laziness people put it off. Kids especially those who are into playing outside come home and do not wash hands before eating. It is upto their parents to teach them from a young age to make this a habit.
- As soon as kids come home from playing, make sure they do not touch any food items before washing their hands. If they love playing outside they are bound to pick up all kinds of germs.
- When eating outside make sure the kids have properly washed their hands before leaving the house.
- If the eating place outside does not have a proper area to wash hands, use sanitizers and hand wipes before eating or drinking anything
- Kids learn what they see happening. If the parents themselves adopt washing hands regularly, the kids will too.
- For handwashing to be effective, it has to be made a habit and should be practiced at especially at times like before eating, after using the toilet or touching something dirty.
How to wash hands properly
Handwashing isn’t just about running hands under water for a few seconds. It involves the proper use of soap to kill off all germs. People especially kids should be taught how to wash hands properly.
- Wet hands
- Cover wet hands with soap
- Scrub all surfaces, including palms, back of the hands, between the fingers, and under the fingernails for about 20 seconds
- Rinse well with running water
- Dry on a clean cloth
Global Handwashing Day 2016
Mothers play a key role in keeping the kids safe from diseases. To keep children safe from diseases like diarrhea handwashing is the first step. To stress the need to create awareness about this simple step, Dettol, a brand known for its healthcare hygiene products conducted an activity.
For Global Handwashing day 2016, Dettol invited 1,650 people from various government school for a handwashing relay. Nearly 1,637 children participated in the handwashing activity that was held which taught them the proper 8 step handwashing process. These 1,637 kids set a Guinness World Record for ‘The Most Participants in a handwashing relay’. This activity was held by Dettol to raise awareness about the importance of washing hands
Celebrity mothers like Nadia Hussain, Sarwat Gillani and Momal Sheikh were also present with their families to endorse the importance of handwashing.
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