14 October 2009
Global Handwashing Day, October 15
Until recently, fetid water pools and open defecation into plastic bags were regular features in the town of Hoima, mid-Western Uganda.
Handwashing with soap was once a rare part of anyone’s daily routine in the town – it was estimated as few as 17 per cent did it.
Rampant, child-killing, water-borne diseases are anything but rare.
On a global scale, the sobering reality is that due to a lack of clean water, poor sanitation and ignorance on hygiene education, 4,000 people – most of them children – will die today from diahorrea.
That’s three times the number of children killed by HIV/AIDS.
Today, a DFID-supported £14.75 million EU project has transformed safe water access, built toilets and improved sewerage and basic hygiene.
Audio slideshow: Improving access to clean water in Uganda
Simple message carries massive weight
The simple message to wash hands with soap is relatively cheap to spread, but priceless in terms of the millions of lives it might spare.
Here, the hand-washing message carries massive weight.
In Sub-Saharan Africa alone, it is estimated 221 million people defecate in the open.
Uganda currently spends $2 million a year on controlling diahorreal diseases but a lack of basic education and awareness of the dangers of not washing with soap means the killer diseases will continue to flourish.
In the developing world, washing hands with soap at key points of the day – before food preparation and after using the toilet – could half the likelihood of diahorrea, reduce acute respiratory infections by up to a quarter, and combat worm infestations, trachoma and infectious skin diseases.
Closer to home, the hygiene alarms raised by the spectre of swine flu only serve to reinforce the message of hand-washing with soap.
According to the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), what should be an unconscious act for most of us is neglected by an alarming number of people.
Their recent research showed 64 per cent of women in the UK and only 32 per cent of men wash their hands with soap after a visit to the toilet.
It also revealed less than half of British mothers washed their hands after changing a nappy.
The knock-on benefits of heeding that message are huge; millions more children will live beyond five years old, they will become stronger and will also complete a basic education in school.
Impressive results
The World Health Organisation estimates programmes that combine water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) can reduce deaths caused by diahorreal diseases by up to 65 per cent – handwashing alone, at critical times, can reduce the incidence of diahorrea by up to 47 per cent.
DFID’s firm belief in WASH projects has reaped impressive results.
In Kenya, the department’s support for the government’s Education Sector Support Programme, is benefiting 600,000 children across 4,500 schools.
DFID’s focus is also fixed on a promise to target the countries most at risk of failing to meet Millennium Development Goal targets for water and sanitation.
People in 100 countries will today seek to push a simple message by breaking handwashing records, sending millions of texts and fly posting toilets with calls to handwash.
DFID’s work - in partnership with WaterAid, LSTHM, and others - will continue to help that message become a life-saving reality for an enlightened audience.
Current DFID water and sanitation projects include:
Sierra Leone - a £32 million, five-year WASH investment aimed at cutting child deaths and improving maternal health should help at least 1.5 million people – predominantly women, girls and other disadvantaged groups.
Bangladesh – DFID is providing £36 million to the Sanitation, Hygiene Education and Water Supply Project (SHEWAB). The joint project between UNICEF and the government of Bangladesh is tackling hygiene and sanitation practices, and handwashing at key points in the day. It aims to reach 30 million people by 2011.
Ethiopia - DFID is investing £75 million over five years in a WASH programme helping health workers promote better hygiene practices in homes and schools. It has led to less open defecation and fewer cases of diarrhea among children.
More water and sanitation case studies:
A shorter walk to safer drinking water in Eritrea
Bringing clean water closer to home
Keeping the flow in Angola’s slums
Banishing bad hygiene in rural Kenya
The first open defecation free municipality in India
Children’s magazine makes healthy reading in Indonesia
Kicking dirty habits in Kampala’s slums
