Daily Handwashing with Soap

Health status of children in the Philippines
Infectious diseases like diarrhea and respiratory-tract infections are among the top three causes of mortality in the Philippines for children below 10 years of age. Every year, 82,000 children die due to pneumonia, diarrhea, and respiratory-tract infections (Department of Health [accessed 2008]).1 According to the Department of Health (DOH), respiratory-tract infections, diarrhea, and influenza are the three leading causes of morbidity for all age groups in the Philippines (DOH [accessed 2008]).2

International recommendations and health policies
Handwashing with soap is the single most effective intervention for preventing infectious diseases as it interrupts the transmission of diseases from one infected person to another. The United Nations General Assembly designated 2008 the International Year of Sanitation, and declared October 15 Global Handwashing Day to raise awareness of the importance of handwashing with soap and the need for generally improved hygiene practices. Global Handwashing Day seeks to motivate and mobilize millions around the world to wash their hands with soap (World Health Organization, Global Handwashing Day [accessed 2008]).3 The theme for the first Global Handwashing Day was “Focus on School Children” and the Philippines was among the UN member states that pledged to champion handwashing with soap in schools.

Scientific evidence
Handwashing has the potential to significantly reduce the spread of diarrhea and respiratory infections, as well as skin infections and trachoma. A recent review (Curtis and Craincross 2003)4 suggests that handwashing with soap at “critical moments”—after using the toilet, before preparing food, before eating—can reduce diarrheal incidence by 42 to 47%, and results in up to 30% reduction of respiratory infections.

Another study found that children below the age of 15 living in households exposed to programs promoting handwashing with soap had half the diarrheal rates of children living in control neighborhoods (Luby et al. 2004).5

Handwashing with soap is regarded to be more effective than any other single health intervention.

References

  1. Department of Health [Internet] [accessed 27.4.2008]. Available from: http://www.doh.gov.ph
  2. Ibid.
  3. World Health Organization, Global Handwashing Day [Internet] [accessed 27.4. 2008]. Available from: http://www.who.int/gpsc/events/2008/15_10_08/en/index.html
  4. Curtis, V., and Cairncross, S. 2003. Effect of washing hands with soap on diarrhoea risk in the community: a systematic review. Lancet Infect Dis 2003; 3(5):275–281.
  5. Luby, S. P., Agboatwalla, M., Painter, J., Altaf, A., Billhimer, W. L., Hoekstra, R. M. 2004. Effect of Intensive Handwashing Promotion on Childhood Diarrhea in High-Risk Communities in Pakistan: A Randomized Controlled Trial. The Journal of the American Medical Association 2004; 291(21):2547–54.