According to a study carried out by Water Aid Nepal in March, 2009, more than 3.5 million children under five die of diarrhea and pneumonia-related diseases every year globally. As many as 10,500 children under five die of diarrhea in Nepal every year.
Inculcating the habit of washing hands with soap before eating and after using toilet can save lives, cutting deaths from diarrhea and other diseases by almost half. The Fatal Neglect 2009 report prepared by Water Aid, UK states that using soap with water can reduce diarrhea among children under the age of five by almost 45 per cent and respiratory infections by nearly 50 per cent. This can in turn save more lives than any single vaccine or medical treatment.
The event was first celebrated in the country on October 15, 2008 and the government is also dedicated to promote sanitation by spreading awareness in that regard. Jointly, the Ministry of Physical Planning and Works, the Ministry of Health and Population, the Ministry of Local Development and the Ministry of Education and Sports have expressed commitments for fulfilling hygienic demands by building socially inclusive latrines, continuing sanitation campaigns and awareness programs, extending partnership with soap manufacturers and by establishing sanitation as basic right of the people in the country.
Because washing hands alone with water is less effective, use of soap is essential while washing hands. According to the Global Handwashing Day website, the belief that washing hands with water alone to remove dirt is a commonplace. The website states that around the world, the observed rates of hand washing with soap at critical moments range from zero to 34 percent. With proper use, all soaps are equally effective to rinse away the germs that cause diseases.
As hands are the principle carriers of disease causing germs, it is imperative that people wash hands in critical periods such as after using the toilet or cleaning a child´s bottom and before handling food.
“Washing hands with soap acts as an interrupter while transmitting disease from person to person, either through direct contact or indirectly through surfaces as hands that have been in contact with bodily fluids like nasal excretions, contaminated foods or water can transport bacteria, viruses and other parasites,” says Anita Pradhan, Media Focal Person and Documentation Manager of Water Aid Nepal.
Using soap to wash hands saves people from infectious diseases like Diarrhea, Typhoid, Trachoma (eye- infection) and Pneumonia related diseases.
Dr Baburam Marasini, Coordinator of Health Sector Support Program says that women are more vulnerable to diseases caused by hands as they are the ones to carry out most of the house-hold works. Women are also more vulnerable to uterus infection during pregnancy if soap is not used to wash hands. Additionally, school dropout rates of young girls are also increasing due to infectious diseases caused by hands.
A study carried out by Equity in Health Sector, 2006 states that in Nepal only 37 percent people use water and only 12 percent use soap more than three times to wash hands every day. This data signifies that the health condition in Nepal is poor as use of soap with water to wash hands is very rare.
According to a research made by John Hopkins University´s Medical Institution in the US in 2008, provided mid-wives wash hands with soaps while looking after children, around 19 percent liable deaths of newborn babies can be prevented and if mothers use soaps to wash hands, it can prevent 44 percent deaths of newborn babies.
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