Showing posts with label sanitation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sanitation. Show all posts

Friday, October 14, 2022

October 15, Global Handwashing Day


Global Handwashing Day will involve millions of people in over 100 countries around the world. Global Handwashing Day (GHD) was created to:
• Foster and support a global culture of handwashing with soap.
• Shine a spotlight on the state of handwashing in every country.
• Raise awareness about the benefits of handwashing with soap.



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 the age of five by two-thirds by 2015.

Global Handwashing Day focuses on children because they suffer the most from diarrheal and respiratory diseases and deaths, but 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
 
For more information on handwashing with soap, including research, tools, and news visit www.globalhandwashing.org.


It’s In Your Hands




Resources and References
1. CDC, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Handwashing: Clean Hands Save Lives
2. Partnership for Food Safety Education, Fight BAC!
3. The Scrub Club. A fun, interactive, and educational Web site that teaches children the proper way to wash their hands. The site contains interactive games, educational music, downloadable activities for kids, educational materials for teachers and program information for parents.
4. Healthy Schools, Healthy People, It’s a SNAP! (School Network for Absenteeism Prevention) the 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.

Saturday, October 15, 2011

Global Handwashing Day
October 15th

Global Handwashing Day 2011 will involve millions of people in over 100 countries around the world. Global Handwashing Day (GHD) was created to:

• Foster and support a global culture of handwashing with soap.
• Shine a spotlight on the state of handwashing in every country.
• Raise awareness about the benefits of handwashing with soap.



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 the age of five by two-thirds by 2015.

Global Handwashing Day focuses on children because they suffer the most from diarrheal and respiratory diseases and deaths, but 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
 
For more information on handwashing with soap, including research, tools, and news visit www.globalhandwashing.org.


The Global Handwashing Day's theme video with
instructions for children on how to wash their hands properly.




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 ClubA fun, interactive and educational Web site that teaches children the proper way to wash their hands. 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 American Cleaning Institute. This program seeks to improve hand hygiene habits to help prevent the spread of infectious disease 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.


Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Is Your Desk Making You Sick?

For Release August 23, 2011 
CHICAGO – A whopping 83 percent of Americans typically eat in their office or cubicle in an effort to save time and money, but not practicing proper food safety could end up costing them both. When it comes to protecting themselves against foodborne illnesses, many professionals are still “out to lunch.”

According to a new survey by the American Dietetic Association and ConAgra Foods’ Home Food Safety program, a majority of Americans continue to eat lunch (62 percent) and snack throughout the day (50 percent) at their desks, while 27 percent typically find breakfast the first thing on their desktop to-do list. Late nights at the office even leave a small percentage (4 percent) dining at their desktop for dinner.

“For many people, multitasking through lunch is part of the average workday,” says registered dietitian and ADA Spokesperson Toby Smithson. “While shorter lunch hours may result in getting more accomplished, they could also be causing workers to log additional sick days, as desktops hide bacteria that can lead to foodborne illness.”

Top of the Workplace To-Do List –
Washing Hands and Surfaces


Only half of all Americans say they always wash their hands before eating lunch. In order to reduce the risk of foodborne illness, Smithson recommends washing your hands before and after handling food with soap and warm water, and keeping your desk stocked with moist towelettes or hand sanitizer for those times you can’t get to the sink. “A clean desktop and hands are your best defense to avoid foodborne illnesses at the office,” she says.


According to the Home Food Safety survey, only 36 percent of respondents clean their work areas—desktop, keyboard, mouse—weekly and 64 percent do so only once a month or less. A study updated in 2007 by the University of Arizona found the average desktop has 100 times more bacteria than a kitchen table and 400 times more than the average toilet seat. “Treat your desktop like you would your kitchen table and counters at home,” says Smithson. “Clean all surfaces, whether at home or work, before you prepare or eat food on them.”





Forget the Water Cooler,
Gather Around the Refrigerator
Even though virtually all work places now have a refrigerator, only 67 percent of those surveyed say it is where they store their lunch. Frighteningly though, approximately one in five people admit they don’t know if it is ever cleaned or say it is rarely or never cleaned. Smithson recommends not only cleaning the office refrigerator, but also using a refrigerator thermometer to ensure food is safely stored below 40 degrees Fahrenheit.

When it comes to safe refrigeration of lunches, perishable foods need to be refrigerated within two hours (one hour if the temperature is greater than 90 degrees Fahrenheit) from when it was removed from the refrigerator at home. However, survey results show that 49 percent admit to letting perishable food sit out for three or more hours, meaning foods may have begun to spoil before the first bite.

Microwave Continuing Education
Besides a refrigerator, nearly all office kitchens also have a microwave oven (97 percent), making leftovers and frozen meals easy, quick and inexpensive lunch options. It is crucial to follow the microwave cooking instructions on the package closely when cooking prepared food in the microwave.

Microwave ovens can cook unevenly and leave cold spots, where harmful bacteria can survive. The recommended way to ensure that food is cooked to the correct temperature, thereby eliminating any harmful bacteria that may be present, is to use a food thermometer. Re-heat all leftovers to the proper temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit.

“Food safety is very important, whether at home or at work. Simple things like washing your hands before preparing food and following microwave cooking instructions can really go a long way,” said Joan Menke-Schaenzer, chief global quality officer, ConAgra Foods.

For the Executive Summary of the 2011 Desktop Dining Survey results—who snacks throughout the work day, desktop cleaning habits of men and women, and much more—or to speak with ADA food and nutrition experts about food safety, please contact Ryan O’Malley, media relations manager at the American Dietetic Association, at 800/877-1600, ext. 4769, or email media@eatright.org.

*HealthFocus International conducted the home food safety survey in April 2011 for the American Dietetic Association and ConAgra Foods through an online survey of a random sample of 2,191 full-time employees, both men and women, who work at a desk. The sample was chosen to closely match U.S. population demographics.

The American Dietetic Association and ConAgra Foods’ Home Food Safety program is dedicated to raising consumer awareness about the seriousness of foodborne illness and providing solutions for easily and safely handling food in their own kitchens. More information can be found at www.homefoodsafety.org.

The American Dietetic Association is the world’s largest organization of food and nutrition professionals. ADA is committed to improving the nation’s health and advancing the profession of dietetics through research, education and advocacy. Visit the American Dietetic Association at www.eatright.org.

ConAgra Foods, Inc., (NYSE: CAG) is one of North America's leading food companies, with brands in 97 percent of America's households. Consumers find Banquet, Chef Boyardee, Egg Beaters, Healthy Choice, Hebrew National, Hunt's, Marie Callender's, Orville Redenbacher's, PAM, Peter Pan, Reddi-wip, Slim Jim, Snack Pack and many other ConAgra Foods brands in grocery, convenience, mass merchandise and club stores. ConAgra Foods also has a strong business-to-business presence, supplying frozen potato and sweet potato products as well as other vegetable, spice and grain products to a variety of well-known restaurants, foodservice operators and commercial customers. For more information, please visit us at www.conagrafoods.com.

Friday, October 15, 2010

Global Handwashing Day
October 15th

Global Handwashing Day 2010 will focus around schools and children. Encouraging communities to plan activities surrounfing playgrounds, classrooms, community centers and public areas.


Global Handwashing Day will involve millions of people in more than 80 countries across all five continents to wash their hands with soap.

Of the approximately 120 million children born in the developing world each year, half will live in households without access to improved sanitation. Poor hygiene and lack of access to sanitation together contribute to about 88% of deaths from diarrheal diseases.

The goal is to make handwashing with soap an automatic behavior.  This one act can 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.


The main objectives of this global celebration are:

• Foster and support a global and local culture of handwashing with soap.
• Shine a spotlight on the state of handwashing in each country.
• Raise awareness about the benefits of handwashing with soap.


The Global Handwashing Day's theme video with
instructions for children on how to wash their hands properly.




It’s In Your Hands


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