City celebrates Global Handwashing Day

14 October 2017

Tomorrow, 15 October 2017, marks Global Handwashing Day which seeks to increase awareness and understanding about the importance of hand-washing to prevent the spread of diseases, especially in a water-stressed environment.

The theme this year is ‘Our Hands, Our Future’ and focuses on how attitudes to health today can impact on future generations.

The simple act of washing one’s hands with soap can prevent many of the 272 million school days that are lost to diarrheal disease each year and at least 50% of infections acquired in healthcare settings.

The City’s environmental health practitioners conduct thousands of education and awareness outreach visits to schools, educare centres and informal settlements every year. This includes demonstrations on effective hand-washing and an explanation of the benefits. One of the results of this sustained campaign has been a drop in the number of diarrhoea-related deaths in children under the age of five from 74 in 2012/13 to 17 in 2016/17.

‘Hand-washing is critical to good hygiene because germs are transmitted so easily, particularly in the warmer months. I appeal to the public to instil the habit of hand-washing in their children from a young age. It is also important when working with food to ensure that one’s hands are cleaned properly to curb the spread of germs. While many parts of the country are experiencing one of the worst droughts on record, we cannot forego basic hygiene and risk outbreaks of disease. Also, hand-washing can be done effectively using very little water.

‘City Health encourages the use of the hand-washing squeeze bottle which not only makes washing one’s hands easy for people with limited access to taps, but is also an inexpensive and practical solution that requires an empty two-litre plastic bottle and a few drops of liquid soap and water. The latest iteration of the squeeze bottle is known as the tippy-tap and works along similar lines. Residents can add to their water-saving efforts by using the squeeze bottle or tippy-tap in the home or business,’ said the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Safety and Security; and Social Services, Alderman JP Smith.

When using a tap for hand-washing, residents are reminded to limit water use in the following ways:
1. Open the tap slowly
2. Wet your hands
3. Close the tap
4. Wash your hands with soap
5. Open the tap again
6. Rinse quickly under slow running water
7. Close the tap immediately

‘The City calls on residents to wash their hands regularly, especially after using the toilet, changing baby nappies, handling waste, and before preparing food as the simple act of washing one’s hands really does save lives. The City’s Recreation and Parks Department has placed waterless hand-sanitiser in most of its public toilets and all public toilets will have hand-sanitisers and dispensers by the end of November,’ said Alderman Smith.

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