Welcome to our series featuring Unique Holidays: December 2022: National Handwashing Awareness Week. I don’t know about you but I believe we should celebrate handwashing every day not just one week of the year.
National Handwashing Awareness Week – first week of the month
We all should know personal hygiene begins and ends with our hands. Though we’re taught as youngsters to wash our hands before dinner, it’s important to remember that germs don’t care what time of day it is. Clean hands prevent sickness. It’s especially important to learn the basics about hand hygiene so that you, too, can become a champion hand washer!
NATIONAL HANDWASHING AWARENESS WEEK ACTIVITIES
- Experts recommend washing your hands with soap and clean water for at least 20 seconds. Be sure to get a good lather going and clean the back of the hands, between the fingers and under the nails. Dry your hands using a clean towel. I want you to know there is a lot of Science behind these recommendations,. Be sure to follow these direction each time you wash your hands.
- Memorize the five steps: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention calls hand washing “a do-it-yourself vaccine” and suggests remembering five easy steps: Wet, lather, scrub, rinse, dry.
- Learn the Four Principles of Hand Awareness endorsed by the American Medical Association and American Academy of Family Physicians, the four principles are: 1) Wash your hands when they are dirty and before eating; 2) Do not cough into hands; 3) Do not sneeze into hands; and 4) Don’t put your fingers in your eyes, nose or mouth.
5 FACTS ABOUT HAND HYGIENE
- According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, handwashing can prevent 1 in 3 Diarrhea-related illnesses and 1 in 5 infections, including the Flu.
- About 1.4 million children under age 5 die from Diarrheal diseases and Pneumonia. The two most deadly afflictions for children worldwide.
- The CDC also reports that only 31 percent of men and 65 percent of women washed their hands after using a public restroom.
- Using Antibiotics creates Antibiotic resistance. Handwashing prevents many sicknesses, so people need less Antibiotics. Therefore, less Antibiotic resistance.
- A typical human sneeze exits the body at about 200 miles per hour and emits around 40,000 droplets into the air.
WHY PEOPLE LOVE NATIONAL HANDWASHING AWARENESS WEEK
- Healthy hands are happy hands and happy hands make for happy and healthy homes.
- Think of how many different things we touch during the course of an average day. Now imagine how many of those things were touched by other people’s hands. Wash your hands to prevent the spread of dangerous microbes.
- Finally, we love National Handwashing Awareness Week because it reminds everybody else especially doctors and those who prepare the food we eat to take cleanliness and hygiene seriously.
Thank you,
Glenda, Charlie and David Cates
