MANILA, (PNA) –Health advocates cited handwashing as the simplest and cheapest way to prevent child-killer diseases such as pneumonia and diarrhea from striking kids especially those below five years old.
During Friday’s start of a year-long “Global Handwashing Awareness” campaign held at Aurora A. Quezon Elementary School in San Andres, Manila, United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) chief of Section Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Tim Grieve said pneumonia kills about 13,000 children aged under five and 5,000 from one-month to five years annually.
Grieve said thousands of children are also suffering from infestation of intestinal parasites.
All these infections and ailments such as hepatitis A, influenza, measles and respiratory diseases could best be prevented by making a habit of regular and proper handwashing, he said. Bacteria and viruses are easily transmitted through the hands.
Grieve also stressed that access to toilet is closely related to good hygiene as he raised the importance of washing our hands after using the lavatory.
“Unicef is working with government, local government units and non-governmental organizations to increase access to toilets and promote proper hygiene in the poorest communities in the Philippines,” he said.
For his part, Unilever vice president for Corporate Affairs Chito Macapagal pointed out the dangers of washing with water alone, a practice alarmingly commonplace in developing nations. He said studies show that washing with water alone does not kill disease-causing germs.
“Washing with soap and clean water is one of the simplest and most effective ways of preventing the spread of hepa A, influenza, measles, diarrhea and respiratory diseases, the last two being known to kill 3.5 million kids every year globally,” Macapagal said.
“We can help put a stop to these deaths if we just follow the simple habit of regularly and properly washing our hands with soap and clean water,” he said.
This year’s handwashing awareness campaign with theme “The power is in your hands,” targets to teach proper handwashing to three million children nationwide, specifically those in elementary schools, increasing the program’s reach from one million in the previous years.
This global campaign was first launched in 2008.
The campaign is being supported by Unicef, departments of education, of health, and of social welfare and development, Philippine Public Health Association, Fit for School Inc, Knowledge Channel and local government units.
During the event, the Aurora A. Quezon Elementary School received a commitment of 6,000 soaps from Unilever. The commitment was received by school principal Dr. Jesusa Caraig. The school has a population of 5,800 pupils.
The demonstration of the detailed steps of proper handwashing, which takes around 15 to 20 seconds, was led by popular child actor Zaijan Jaranilla and celebrity host Tuesday Vargas.
Other celebrities that attended the event were television host Vicky Morales, reigning Bb. Pilipinas-Universe Arielle Arida, Manila Councilor Roland Valeriano and other local guests.