Mexico – World Handwashing Day is celebrated on October 15 to raise awareness that a little soap and water can save many lives and avoid disease.
“Every day, we are exposed to countless viruses or bacteria in the environments we work in, which may be on our desks, on door handles, in public restrooms, in schools, and even on the vehicles we use and use. “We didn’t realize that. Through our hands we allow them to enter our bodies or the bodies of our families,” said Baja California State Health Secretary J. Adrián Medina Amarillas.
He added that handwashing remains the most cost-effective, efficient and effective measure to prevent more than 200 communicable diseases, mainly gastrointestinal, dermatological and respiratory diseases.
“It’s important to wash your hands properly with soap and water at key times of the day, before cooking or preparing food, before eating, and after using the toilet or cleaning your baby,” he said.
Proper hand washing is one of the most effective preventive measures and it is estimated that diarrhea can be reduced by 80% through this practice. In addition to preventing diarrheal diseases, it can also prevent acute respiratory infections, he added.
According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), handwashing with soap can reduce the incidence of respiratory infections, such as pneumonia, by 23%.
Hand washing also prevents skin infections, conjunctivitis, parasitic diseases, acute respiratory syndrome, avian influenza, influenza A (H1N1), COVID-19, and provides benefits for people living with HIV/AIDS.
Disease prevention significantly reduces hospital saturation and the cost of medications or prolonged hospitalization, so it is important to promote this simple practice.