What hand washing does for your health

Hand washing has a lot of health benefits, and saves lives. It is very important to imbibe the habit as an important line of defense against the spread of diseases . It is also one of the ways of protecting oneself from the various diseases outbreak the country is presently witnessing.

According to Dr Uche Ewelike, a Public Health Physician and Health Economist the hand is a major culprit in disease spread especially communicable diseases.

He said when the hands are washed regularly with soap and clean water, it breaks the disease chain and keeps the society healthy.

“Even in the advent of more recent spread of a viral disease called Monkey Pox, hand washing will halt the spread if utilized by the society as a prevention strategy. What hand washing actually does is to keep to society healthy by stopping person to person contact and it should be encouraged as it portrays good hygiene practice,” he said.

UNICEF said regular hand washing with soap after using toilets, after changing children’s nappies and before eating or handling food saves more lives than any single vaccine or medical intervention.

It said hand washing can reduce deaths from diarrhea by almost half and deaths from acute respiratory infections by one-quarter.

Health experts at the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, (CDC) described hand washing as a “do-ityourself” vaccine.

Keeping hands clean through improved hand hygiene is one of the most important steps we can take to avoid getting sick and spreading germs to others,” said the Centres for Disease Control and prevention, (CDC).

“Many diseases and conditions are spread by not washing hands with soap and clean, running water. If clean, running water is not accessible, as is common in many parts of the world, use soap and available water. If soap and water are unavailable, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol to clean hands,” it said.

The centre advised that people should wash their hands before, during, and after preparing food, before eating food, before and after caring for someone who is sick and before and after treating a cut or wound.

Other include : After using the toilet, after changing diapers or cleaning up a child who has used the toilet, after blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing, after touching an animal, animal feed, or animal waste, after handling pet food or pet treats, after touching garbage

The Centres for Disease Control and prevention, (CDC) said people should wash their hands in the following ways:

• Wet your hands with clean, running water (warm or cold), turn off the tap, and apply soap.

• Lather your hands by rubbing them together with the soap. Be sure to lather the backs of your hands, between your fingers, and under your nails.

• Scrub your hands for at least 20 seconds. Need a timer? Hum the “Happy Birthday” song from beginning to end twice.

• Rinse your hands well under clean, running water.

• Dry your hands using a clean towel or air dry them.

While saying that washing hands with soap and water is the best way people can reduce the number of germs on them in most situations, the centre said people should use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol if soap and water were not available,

“Alcohol-based hand sanitizers can quickly reduce the number of germs on hands in some situations, but sanitizers do not eliminate all types of germs and might not remove harmful chemicals,” it said.