Since its inception in 2008, the Global Handwashing Day has been echoing and reinforcing the call for improved hygiene worldwide. Celebrated on Saturday, October 15, it came as timely event, following the death of at least one person and about 300 declared cases of cholera infections in the Wouri Division of Littoral Region the same week.
Experts say habitual hand washing with soap before eating and after using the toilet saves more lives than any single vaccine or medical intervention. It is able to reduce deaths from diarrhea (cholera) by almost half and from acute respiratory infections by one-quarter.
Global Hand washing Day was the centrepiece of a week of activities that mobilized hundreds of people across Douala to wash their hands with soap. However, the day did not highlight the state of hand washing in Cameroon where the practice of washing hands with soap remains minimal. Although people around the world wash their hands with water, very few do so with soap at critical moments such as after using the toilet, cleaning a baby, and before handling food.
Yet, despite its lifesaving potential, hand washing with soap is seldom practised and not always easy to promote. It should be encouraged as a regular practice in homes, schools and communities worldwide. Handwashing with soap is among the most effective and inexpensive ways of preventing diarrheal diseases and pneumonia, which together are responsible for the majority of child deaths.
Every year, more than 3.5 million children die as a result of diarrhea and pneumonia. Hand washing has the potential to make a significant contribution to meeting the Millennium Development Goals of reducing deaths among children under the age of five by two-thirds by 2015. Children are said to suffer disproportionately from diarrhea and respiratory diseases.
