Hand washing important for the health and wealth of a nation
View(s):The minute task of daily washing of hands which is a must, has however become a big issue in life leading to the declaration of an international Day of Hand Washing that would protect the individual, the family, the nation and the whole world from diseases like diarrhoea and respiratory disorders.
In Sri Lanka the World Hand Washing Day was commemorated by the Health Ministry in collaboration with Unilevers Sri Lanka this week in Colombo, under the theme ‘Maternal Hygiene and Global Hand Washing Day’.
Dr (Ms) R.D.F.C. Kanthi, Deputy Director, Health Education Bureau said that every year there are about 370,000 new births in Sri Lanka and among them around 3,800 die. These deaths occur in hospitals due to infections. Around 2,400 die within three and 28 days though this is a very low level, compared to other countries. She said that they are taking necessary steps to prevent these deaths.
Dr P.G. Maheepala, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Health said that earlier they commemorated this based on the child and school, but this year the issue is expanded to cover mother and child to reduce the incidence of diarrhea and some respiratory disrders. He said that according to the World Health Organization around 56 million deaths take place annually due to diarrhoea. He said that the Family Health Units spread all over country are rendering a great service in ensuring the health of the expectant mothers, by visiting their homes and imparting necessary and important advice as to how a pregnant mother should keep her personal health and care in place and also advice on health matters of the family. He said that this practice is rarely found in other countries.
He said that they have obtained the support of Unilever Sri Lanka in this project. By merely washing the hand regularly as a habit, before eating and after going to the toilet, these diseases could be prevented. He said that hands should be washed, specially before touching the new born babies.
He said that hospital staff also should take these precautions of washing hands before attending to matters of the new born babies.
Dr. Kanthi said that compared to other Asian countries, Sri Lanka could be considered far ahead in providing family health care and preventing diseases. Child and mother health care too is at a very high level. She said that 98 per cent of child births take place in hospitals in Sri Lanka, but in countries like India the figure would be less than 50 per cent.
She said that there are various awareness programmes for pregnant mothers and mothers as to how to take care of the babies when they are taken home; how the family members should touch the baby and how they should wash their hands before touching. She said that it is essential mothers too wash their hands, but in a way it is also not that good to wash hands often as it would destroy the good bacteria in the hands. It is also important that mothers should also maintain their personal health care and cleanliness as they handle the babies.
She said though it is difficult to find time and effort, people must find time to have their personal health and body care in place as otherwise the negligence would cause enormous money. “In our country elders, parents and grandparent are far ahead with regard to hygiene. In the earlier times parents have given us a wealth of good habits and shown the values in life and all what the people have to do is to follow those good habits on personal care and health, she said.
The World Hand Washing Day reminds people that this small act that takes less than 20 seconds would keep the people of the entire world healthy, disease free and save a lot of money.(QP)
Follow @timesonlinelk
Related Posts:
Corporates come together to fight HIV AIDS in the workplacePrivate sector corporate entities have ventured into taking action against another health crisis area to mitigate and prevent the spread ...
Corporates come together to fight HIV AIDS in the workplacePrivate sector corporate entities have ventured into taking action against another health crisis area to mitigate and prevent the spread ...
Careful when washing cars, or taking your dog for a walkA statute approved by the Western Provincial Council recently on preventing public health nuisances makes it illegal to wash vehicles ...
Health ministry to legislate modus operandi for private medical labsDespite the fact that more than 3,000 private medical laboratories function in the country, the lack of legislation and regulations ...
Dengue claims 83 lives; Health Ministry gets ready to battle it with BTIA total of 83 deaths has been recorded due to dengue for this year alone, a Ministry of Health spokesman ...