In 2008, the UN General Assembly designated October 15 as the International Day of Sanitation and Global Hand washing. This was after research had proved that millions of children the world over failed to reach their fifth birthday due to diseases related to diarrhoea and respiratory complications.
The theme for this year’s commemorations was: “Help more children reach their fifth birthday”. Improved hand washing practices were cited as the best way of achieving that goal.
“Globally diarrhoea caused by inadequate sanitation, poor hygiene and unsafe water claims the lives of an estimated 2 million children under the age of five every year. According to the Multiple Indicator Monitoring Study 2009 in Zimbabwe, 4000 children die after suffering from diarrhoea every year,” said UNICEF Zimbabwe Deputy Representative, Marc Rubin.
Rubin added that it was important to develop a culture of hand washing with soap among children from an early age. “This cultivates positive habits as they mature into adulthood that they can pass on to their own children. Hand washing with soap under running water is the single most effective and inexpensive way to prevent diarrhoea and respiratory infections. Yet the number of children dying from easily preventable diarrhoeal diseases in Zimbabwe and the world over remains high.”
In a speech read on his behalf, WHO Zimbabwe Country Representative, Dr. David Okello said that around the world, the observed rates of hand washing with soap ranged from zero to 34 percent.
Post published in: News