Global Handwashing Day!
Given the fact that it is flu season here in the US and the concerns that we all have about swine flu, this could not have come at a better time.
For people living in developing countries worldwide, communicable diseases are an ever present menace that leads to high infant mortality from diarrhea and other communicable diseases.
Judicious hand washing is one of the best and most effective means of reducing the risk of communicable diseases. You can read more about the campaign at the website below and please be sure to forward the link to your friends and family members or share on your Blog or Facebook Profile page.
http://www.globalhandwashingday.org/
To ensure that the campaign is successful, bloggers in more than 150 countries are participating in a joint Blog Action Day to spread awareness of Global Handwashing Day. If you are a blogger, please sign on at the Blog Action Day website to assist with the campaign.
http://www.blogactionday.org/en/blogs
The primary target group for the Global Handwashing Day campaign is children so that we can instill in them a lifelong habit of handwashing and cleanliness. After all as the saying goes, "Cleanliness is next to Godliness!".
The Global Handwashing Day campaign also brings to focus another related issue -- the need for universal access to clean water and adequate sanitation. Until the majority of people in developing countries have access to clean water and adequate sanitation, the handwashing campaign will not be effective. The need for clean water and ecological sanitation projects that will ensure a more complete cycle of disease reduction and containment cannot be overemphasized enough.
According to UNICEF -- "Almost fifty per cent of the developing world’s population – 2.5 billion people – lack improved sanitation facilities, and over 884 million people still use unsafe drinking water sources. Inadequate access to safe water and sanitation services, coupled with poor hygiene practices, kills and sickens thousands of children every day, and leads to impoverishment and diminished opportunities for thousands more.
Poor sanitation, water and hygiene have many other serious repercussions. Children – and particularly girls – are denied their right to education because their schools lack private and decent sanitation facilities. Women are forced to spend large parts of their day fetching water. Poor farmers and wage earners are less productive due to illness, health systems are overwhelmed and national economies suffer. Without WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene), sustainable development is impossible." [Please visit the UNICEF website to learn more: http://www.unicef.org/wash/]
We call on government officials, legislators, policymakers, local governments, funding agencies and communities worldwide to make universal access to clean water and ecological sanitation an immediate priority. This is one of the best means for developing countries to make progress towards attainment of the Millennium Development Goals.
Dedication: I am dedicating this blog post on Global Handwashing Day to the memory of Michael Jackson whose global humanitarian efforts created worldwide awareness for the need for global action to end poverty and childhood diseases.
Global Handwashing Day Video:
Posts
