Nanny UK’s latest mad edict: Teach students how to wash hands!

UNIVERSITY students should be reminded to wash their hands when visiting the toilet, according to official health guidance. NHS watchdog Nice said young people away from home for the first time must be ‘taught the importance of hand washing’ to curb infections.

The organisation – which has been criticised in the past for issuing ‘nannying’ diktats – said universities should display ‘educational’ posters in their toilets, cafeterias, bulletin boards and halls of residence.

Campus health centres should also give out advice on hygiene, it added.

The guidance is part of a document, published today, which aims to reduce the spread of superbugs and ‘ change risk-related behaviours in the general population’.

All institutions, from nursery schools to care homes, should take action to reduce the spread of infections, it said.

Nice said last night: ‘The guideline recommends children in nurseries and young people at university be taught when and how to wash and dry their hands, for example after going to the toilet and before preparing food, in order to prevent the spread of infections.

‘Young people living away from home for the first time should also be given information about how to care for themselves when they get an infection that will resolve itself over time, for example, a common cold or flu.’

Nice was criticised in November when it called for speed limits to be cut to 50mph to cut air pollution.

In 2015 it said parents should not let children have sweet treats, even at weekends and holidays. And in 2012 it called for parking charges to be raised to make people walk.

Polling suggests up to a third of people do not wash their hands every time they go to the toilet, and men are particularly at fault.

But Nice admits a similar publicity drive among American students made little difference. A study of 1,005 people at a US university found hygiene posters did not increase observed rates of hand washing, although use of soap went up from 58 per cent to 78 per cent.

Professor Gillian Leng, deputy chief executive at Nice, last night stressed that the advice should be ‘age-specific’.

‘Good hygiene is key to preventing the spread of infections,’ she said. ‘We recommend hygiene education be tailored to the individu- al’s age and level of understanding. Children at nursery or preschool may benefit from classroom-based activities exploring how hand washing can stop the spread of germs.

‘Young adults at university could be reminded of this through educational posters displayed in campus cafeterias, bulletin boards in halls of residence and public toilets.’

The campaign will also include a drive to reduce the use of antibiotics, in a bid to bring down rates of superbug infections.

Professor Leng added: ‘ Antimicrobial resistance is a problem that is happening now and will get worse without action at all levels so we must all play our part. Educa- tion is key to this issue, and that’s why we’ve made recommendations for a whole range of ages, from preschool settings to residential and day care settings for older people.’

Professor Dame Sally Davies, the Government’s chief medical officer, said: ‘We need to address the growing problem of drug-resistant infections as the global medicine cabinet is becoming increasingly bare.

‘Preventing infections in the first place is key, and so is education on how to use antibiotics appropriately. This guidance provides important information on how we can keep these important medicines working.’

‘Away from home for first time’