Why you should wash your hands with soap

Last Wednesday, the world marked the global hand washing day under the theme, choose hand washing, choose health. The day aims to raise awareness about the benefits of hand washing with soap.
Health experts say people need to wash their hands with soap, particularly after using the restroom and before touching any food.

“Handwashing with soap is one of the cheapest, most effective ‘vaccines’ against viral diseases, from the seasonal flu, to the common cold,” said Aida Girma, the country representative of the United Nations Children Fund (Unicef). According to Chris Mugga, the coordinator of the national hand washing campaign, only 32.4 per cent of Ugandans wash their hands before eating, or after visiting a toilet.

Benefits of hand washing
Dr Charles Namis, a general practitioner at Nsambya hospital says, through hand washing, a number of viral and bacterial infections can be avoided. These include typhoid, cholera or dysentery.

Dr Namis says germs can spread to the hands through various ways, including after using the toilet, changing diapers, touching objects such as handrails, water taps and door knobs.
Some people get germs from touching pets and other domestic animals including sheep, cows and goats.

Besides causing diseases such as diarrhoea, germs that are transmitted from human beings to animals can also lead to respiratory infections.

The Centers for Disease Control and prevention says one gramme of human faeces can contain upto one trillion germs, which are also responsible for causing diseases such as diarrhoea and dysentry.

According to the Uganda Demographic Health Survey 2011, diarrhoea is a major cause of death among young children in Uganda. The disease is common among children who live in households with a non-improved toilet facility or a shared toilet facility compared with children who lived in households with facilities that are not shared.

How often should you wash hands?
According to Dr Namis, people should wash hands every time they visit a toilet and while preparing or going to eat food.
“It is also important to wash hands with soap whenever you touch an animal. People should also clean their hands after eating food and after sneezing,” he explains.

Denis Alioni, the regional district coordinator of the national hand washing campaign says a person should wet hands with water, rub soap until lather forms and wash between fingers. “Then rinse with running water until the lather is off. Lather helps wash off dirt from hands that act as hiding places for germs and pathogens,” he says.

He adds: Sensitising the community on the benfits of hand washing is also crucial.

The benefit
Hand washing with soap ensures that the transmission of germs is restricted, especially among children who are more prone than adults to diarrhoea and other childhood illnesses.