Global Hand Washing Day

Global Hand Washing Day 15th October Dr.T.V.Rao MD

Early History - Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes As early as 1843, Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes advocated hand washing to prevent childbed fever. Holmes was horrified by the prevalence in American hospitals of the fever, which he believed to be an infectious disease passed to pregnant women by the hands of doctors. He recommended that a physician finding two cases of the disease in his practice within a short time should remove himself from obstetrical duty for a month. Holmes's ideas were greeted with disdain by many physicians of his time.

Dr. Ignaz Semmelweis Proved the Hypothesis – Many ignored In the late 1840's, Dr. Ignaz Semmelweis was an assistant in the maternity wards of a Vienna hospital. There he observed that the mortality rate in a delivery room staffed by medical students was up to three times higher than in a second delivery room staffed by midwives. In fact, women were terrified of the room staffed by the medical students. Semmelweis observed that the students were coming straight from their lessons in the autopsy room to the delivery room.

Dr. Ignaz Semmelweis postulated He postulated that the students might be carrying the infection from their dissections to birthing mothers. He ordered doctors and medical students to wash their hands with a chlorinated solution before examining women in labor. The mortality rate in his maternity wards eventually dropped to less than one percent.

Hand washing a Tribute to Ignaz Semmelweis

Dr.

Why Hand Washing Hand washing for hand hygiene is the act of cleansing the hands with water or another liquid, with the use of soap, for the purpose of removing soil, dirt, and/or microorganisms

Why Hand Washing Human feces are the main source of diarrheal pathogens. They are also the source of shigellosis, typhoid, cholera, all other common endemic gastro-enteric infections, and some respiratory infections: just one gram of human feces can contain 10 million viruses and one million bacteria.

Scientific Proof to Hand Washing Hand washing interrupts the transmission of disease agents and so can significantly reduce diarrhea and respiratory infections, as well as skin infections and trachoma. A recent review (Curtis and Cairncross 2003) suggests that handwashing with soap, particularly after contact with feces (post-defecation and after handling a child’s stool), can reduce diarrheal incidence by 42-47 percent, while ongoing work by Rabie et al. suggests a 30 percent reduction in respiratory infections is possible through hand washing

Unicef on use of Soap Unicef says using soap to wash hands, particularly after contact with excreta, can reduce diarrhoeal diseases by over 40% and respiratory infections by 30%.

Hand Washing Steps

Effectiveness of Hand Washing This hygienic behaviour has been shown to cut the number of child deaths from diarrhea (the second leading cause of child deaths) by almost half and from pneumonia (the leading cause of child deaths) by one-quarter. There are five critical times in washing hands with soap and/or using of a hand antiseptic related to fecal-oral transmission: after using a bathroom (private or public), after changing a diaper, before feeding a child, before eating and before preparing food or handling raw meat, fish, or poultry, or any other situation leading to potential contamination

Sir William Osler on Hand Washing Soap, Water and Common sense, are still the best Antiseptics.

The Global Hand washing Day The Global Hand washing Day took place for the first time on October 15, 2008, the date appointed by UN General Assembly in accordance with year 2008 as the International Year of Sanitation

Global Hand washing Day Global Hand washing Day is a campaign to motivate and mobilize millions around the world to wash their hands with soap. The campaign is dedicated to raising awareness of hand washing with soap as a key approach to disease prevention.

Soap saves lives The campaign was initiated to reduce mortality rates related to diarrhea diseases by introducing simple behavioural changes, such as hand washing with soap, which according to research can reduce the rate by almost 50 per cent.

Why Hand Washing Reduces Diarrheal Diseases Diarrhoeal diseases kill more than 1.5 million children under five each year but the simple act of hand washing can reduce these disease s by >45%.

Spirit of 2008 continues Initiated in 2008 by the Global PublicPrivate Partnership for Hand washing with Soap, Global Hand washing Day is endorsed by a wide array of governments, international institutions, civil society organisations, NGOs, private companies and individuals around the globe.

Focus the Attention on Children The driving theme for Global Hand washing Day is children and schools, and the main objectives of this global celebration are: * foster and support a global and local culture of hand washing with soap

CDC on Hand Washing When you should wash hands According to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), if you don't wash your hands frequently, you can pick up germs from other sources and then infect yourself. You're at risk every time you touch your eyes, nose, or mouth.

By washing your hand – you are free fro Microbes By frequently washing your hands the right way, you'll wash away germs — such as bacteria and viruses — that you have picked up from other people, through contaminated water and food, from tainted surfaces, or from animals and animal waste.

Global Hand washing Day 2009 will.. Revolve around schools and children. On Global Hand washing Day, playgrounds, classrooms, community centres, and the public spaces of towns and cities will be awash with activity to drive hand washing behaviour change on a scale never seen before, bringing the critical issue to centre stage.

Teach them earlier in life

Hand washing a better option in prevention The two biggest killers of children in the developing world today are diarrheal disease and respiratory tract infections. The simple act of washing hands with soap can cut diarrhea risk by almost half, and respiratory tract infection by a third. This makes hand washing a better option for disease prevention than any single vaccine

Hand washing is a behaviour change Hand washing with soap is among the most effective and inexpensive ways to prevent diarrheal diseases and pneumonia, which together are responsible for the majority of child deaths. This behaviour is projected to become a significant contribution to meeting the Millennium Development Goal of reducing deaths among children under the age of five by two-thirds by 2015

Create awarness at several places Hand washing is likely to be especially important where people congregate (schools, offices), where ill or vulnerable people are concentrated (hospitals, nursing homes), where food is prepared and shared and in homes, especially where there are young children and vulnerable adults.

UNICEF Educates UNICEF recognizes the potential of children as agents of hand washing behaviour change by coupling water and sanitation improvements in schools with hygiene education.

Make matters simple – wash Support the good ideas

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Create a Poster Awareness in the Schools

Make all Kids partners in Hand washing

Washing hands – a Great Praying Hands

Created for Dr.T.V.Rao MD’s ‘e’ learning Programme for Developing world Email [email protected]