Did you know that the simple act of washing your hands is enough to keep your health in good shape, and to keep serious illnesses at bay? Just washing your hands through the day, before eating and after using the services can help keep your hands germ free and keep diseases away. October 15 has been designated as Global Hand washing Day. The date has been marked as the global advocacy day dedicated to increasing awareness and understanding the importance of hand washing with soap. Here are some of the reasons why Hand washing is important!

1. It functions as an effective and affordable way to prevent diseases and save lives.

2. Hand washing is one of the most significant public health interventions around the world, because the simple act has averted many public health concerns.

3. Every year, as many as 1.7 million children do not see their fifth birthdays because of diarrhoea and pneumonia. Hand washing with soap is among the most effective and inexpensive ways to prevent diseases.

4. Hand washing can save lives effectively. It helps by cutting the prevalence of diarrhoea by almost one half the extent it prevails at, and also cuts back on acute respiratory infections by nearly one-quarter.

5. Hand washing with soap impacts not just health and nutrition, but also education, economics, and equity in social set ups.

6. Hand washing with soap is highly effective in building good health and even saves lives by preventing infections from spreading. Many infections begin to spread when one’s hands are contaminated with disease-causing bacteria and viruses.

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7. After using the toilet, or changing a child’s diaper, coughing, sneezing, touching other people’s hands, and touching other contaminated surfaces automatically allow the spread of germs. A single gram of human feces can contain 10 million viruses and one million bacteria. Hand washing with soap works by removing bacteria and viruses from hands before they get a chance to actually cause infections or spread to other people.

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8. When handsare contaminated with disease causing germs – both bacteria and viruses alike, they can enter the body or pass from person to person very easily. Once these germs enter the body, they can cause a wide range of infections. Hand washing stops the process before it gets out of hand.

9. Diseases and infections that can be kept at bay with hand washing are diarrhea, pneumonia, ebola, skin and eye infections, intestinal worms and even common colds.

References:
http://globalhandwashing.org/global-handwashing-day/
http://www.who.int/gpsc/5may/en/
http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/home/cleaning/tips/a19054/germ-proof-house/