Nishi Kumar is working as an intern at the U.S. Fund for UNICEF throughout the Fall.
“Did you remember to wash your hands?” This is a question most of us heard thousands of times throughout our childhoods. Hand washing is a routine we pick up at an early age, drilled into us by constant reminders from relatives, teachers, and catchy TV jingles. By adolescence, it becomes an ingrained habit that we eventually pass down onto our own children. Most of us have never stopped to consider why this simple act—washing our hands with soap and water—is so important. The truth is that thorough hand washing can save the lives of millions of children each year.
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| © UNICEF/NYHQ2008-1117/Christine Nesbitt |
| Children line up to wash their hands in a communal bucket at at school in Tenghory, Senegal |
Washing with soap and water is especially effective against diarrhea—the second most common cause of death among children, which claims more lives than AIDS, measles and malaria combined. Last week UNICEF and the World Health Organization jointly published a report entitled “Diarrhea: Why Children Are Still Dying and What Can Be Done” including information on causes, treatment and prevention of the deadly illness. “It is a tragedy that diarrhea, which is little more than an inconvenience in the developed world, kills an estimated 1.5 million children each year,” said UNICEF Executive Director, Ann M. Veneman.
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| © UNICEF/NYHQ2009-0237/Josh Estey | |
| A girl from an indigenous community washes her hands at an outdoor tap at a preschool in Bac Han District, Vietnam. |
UNICEF is combating the disease through different channels, including distributing cost-effective Oral Rehydration Salts and zinc tablets to fight diarrheal dehydration. We also increase access to safe water and adequate sanitation, which reduces the death rate by up to 88%. Many of our campaigns revolve around Africa and South Asia where more than four out of every five deaths from diarrhea occur.
Central to battling childhood disease is the UNICEF philosophy “at the heart of any long-term response is prevention.” Hand washing with soap has been shown to reduce the incidence of diarrhea by over 40%, making it one of the most cost-effective preventive techniques for reducing child death.
UNICEF teaches the importance of hand washing in schools and communities, and in 2008 even created a hand washing holiday. Earlier this month we celebrated our second annual “Global Handwashing Day” where over 200 million children, parents, teachers, government officials and celebrities across five continents lathered up to raise awareness and spread the crucial message: a little bit of soap and water goes a long way.
