A Guide to Handwashing
Will Sawyer, MD, is a Family Physician and the creator of the Henry the Hand Foundation and Henry the Hand Champion Handwasher.Goal: To improve health by making us more aware of our hands' role in spreading disease.
Mission: To propagate Henry the Hand's 4 Principles of Hand Awareness throughout the United States and the world!
1. WASH your hands when they are dirty and BEFORE eating.
2. DO NOT cough into your hands.
3. DO NOT sneeze into your hands.
4. Above all, DO NOT put your fingers into your eyes, nose, or mouth!
Henry the Hand Champion
Handwashing School Visit
Handwashing School Visit
Dr. Will has created a wonderful website for children and educators. The site contains posters, coloring books, school programs, tips on Food Safety, and a lot more. Visit Henry the Handwashing Champion.
Why Handwashing with Soap?
Handwashing with soap is the most effective and inexpensive way to prevent diarrheal and acute respiratory infections, which take the lives of millions of children in developing countries every year. Together, they are responsible for the majority of all child deaths. Yet, despite its lifesaving potential, handwashing with soap is seldom practiced and difficult to promote.
Turning handwashing with soap before eating and after using the toilet into a habit could save more lives than any single vaccine or medical intervention, cutting deaths from diarrhea by almost half and deaths from acute respiratory infections by one-quarter. A vast change in handwashing behavior is critical to meeting the Millennium Development Goal of reducing deaths among children under five by two-thirds by 2015.
Global Handwashing Day focuses on children because they suffer the most from diarrheal and respiratory diseases and deaths. Still, research shows that children can also be powerful agents for changing behaviors like handwashing with soap in their communities.
When should you wash your hands?
· Before, during, and after preparing food
· Before eating food
· Before and after caring for someone who is sick
· Before and after treating a cut or wound
· After using the toilet
· After changing diapers or cleaning up a child who has used the toilet
· After blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing
· After touching an animal or animal waste
· After touching garbage
It's In Your Hands
Resources and References
1. CDC, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Handwashing: Clean Hands Save Lives
3. Partnership for Food Safety Education, Fight BAC!
4. The Scrub Club. A fun, interactive, and educational Website that teaches children how to wash their hands properly. The site contains interactive games, educational music, downloadable activities for kids, educational materials for teachers, and program information for parents.
5. Healthy Schools, Healthy People, It’s a SNAP! (School Network for Absenteeism Prevention) program is a joint initiative of the CDC and the American Cleaning Institute. This program seeks to improve hand hygiene habits to help prevent the spread of infectious diseases and reduce related absenteeism. This grassroots, education-based effort can help improve health by making hand cleaning an integral part of the school day. Without proper hand cleaning, a single infection can quickly spread among students, teachers, family, and friends.
