Hand washing can save millions of kids

Unhygienic practices can cause deaths from respiratory and diarrheal illnesses among 3.5 million children below five years old annually, and simple hand washing with soap can reduce such cases by half.

This was reported by Dr. Anna Bowen of the Foodborne and Diarrheal Diseases Branch of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia, citing statistics from the World Health Organization and the results of various studies.

Bowen was among the speakers, led by Sen. Juan Flavier, at the 2nd International Health and Hygiene Symposium held recently at the Peninsula Hotel Manila. The event marked the 40th anniversary of Procter & Gamble’s flagship brand Safeguard.

Speaking before some 150 experts from various countries, Bowen said most of the deaths occurred in the world’s less developed regions with scarce resources.

"However, when a very simple and inexpensive intervention, hand washing with soap, is introduced, studies have shown a reduction of up to 40-50 percent in diarrheal and respiratory illnesses," Bowen said.

This was confirmed by Flavier, citing results of intervention programs he had conducted.

"Hand washing with Safeguard soap was limited to two intervention points — before eating and after use of toilet. In order to ensure adequate compliance by the children, we taught them how to wash hands while singing the nursery rhyme ‘I Have Two Hands’ or the song ‘Happy Birthday’. By the time they finished singing, we were assured that they had properly washed their hands. We carried out health education in schools and home visitations for the target experimental barrio. After six months, we noted a 30-percent decrease in infectious diseases in the subject barrio."

Flavier said his findings were consistent with that of a study done in Karachi, Pakistan by a team from the US Center for Disease Control.