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Global Hand Washing Day 2019: Wash Those Hands, Stay Clean & Safe

In celebration of the Global Hand Washing Day, make a conscious effort to wash your hands today, tomorrow and always!

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Global Handwashing Day is an international campaign to motivate and mobilize people around the world to improve their hand washing habits.

Often times, we forget to wash our hands after doing little things. Yes, we know most people wash their hands after using the toilet. But how many people wash their hands after touching an animal, sneezing into their palms, throwing garbage away or even after getting home from a long journey? Guilty? We know right!

It is imperative to develop the habit of washing your hands regularly. People tend to wait until their hands get obviously dirty and coloured before they wash it. This is wrong.

Do a simple exercise today: At intervals, go into the bathroom or kitchen and wash your hands. Don’t do this under running water so you can observe the quantity of dirt that comes off your hands. This will show you exactly how important washing your hands is and why you need to ensure it becomes a part of you.

Keeping your hands clean is one of the most important steps you can take to avoid getting sick and spreading germs to others. Your hands get to every part of your body and it is easy to attract and spread germs and diseases if you do not regularly wash them.

Doubt us? Let’s show you how…

Many people are guilty of holding their phones in their mouths when they urgently need to make use of their hands. Now, if your phone has been in your unwashed hands all day, there’s a high possibility that you have passed bacteria from your hands to your phone, and then to your mouth. The rest is history.

Mobile phones are known to be potential haulers of diseases and to control this, strict adherence to infection control, such as hand washing, is advised.

A lot of people are also guilty of sneezing into their palms, instead of their shoulders. They will then rub their hands on their clothes, or give their colleagues a handshake. If you do this, you are spreading diseases through your hands. If you are also guilty of digging your nose or scratching your schlong all the time, you should consider washing our hands at intervals.

Why is this important?

It is estimated that 300,000 children under five years die each year in Nigeria due to diseases (diarrhoea and respiratory diseases) that can largely be prevented by hand washing. Around the world, about 1.8 million children under the age of 5 also die each year from diarrhoea diseases and pneumonia.

Hand washing with soap could protect about 1 out of every 3 young children who get sick with diarrhoea, and almost 1 out of 5 young children with respiratory infections like pneumonia.

So when should you wash your hands?

All the time! Yes, all the time. After applying makeup, using the toilet, sneezing or coughing, playing in an open field, treating wounds or caring for a sick person, handling garbage, before and after cooking. In short, it is better to wash your hands as often as you can every day. Don’t wait until they are visibly dirty or black.

How do you wash your hands?

  • Wet your hands with water.
  • Apply your soap
  • Rub your palms together.
  • Rub the back of both hands.
  • Rub your palms with your fingers interlaced.
  • Also, rub with the back of your fingers.
  • Don’t forget your thumbs.
  • And the middle of your palms too!
  • Ensure the tap is running.
  • Then dry your hands.

Sounds too long? Nope! Proper washing of your hands can be done in seconds and the benefits are huge!

Ensure you do not hoard this information to yourself, teach your kids and everyone around you how to wash their hands.

So guys, have you washed your hands today? In celebration of the Global Hand Washing Day, make a conscious effort to wash your hands today, tomorrow and always!

You should also note that washing your hands with only water does not count. Use soap!

Happy Global Hand Washing Day and stay healthy.

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