Your health rests in your hands – literally; washing your hands with soap and water regularly can reduce your risk for many diseases. You have the power to improve your health daily. This may sound too simple to be true but you can certainly improve your health merely by washing your hands properly and at the right time.
The ideal thing to do is to wash your hands with running water and soap and what you do afterwards is equally important. Washing your hands and drying them with a dirty wet rag or towel is a recipe for disaster. In the event that clean water is not available an alcohol-based sanitizer may be of help but for now let us place emphasis on running water and soap.
Hand washing when done properly is effective at preventing respiratory diseases such as the common cold, eye infections, Hepatitis A, Typhoid Fever as well as different types of diarrhoea and vomiting. Hand Washing is NOT a Quick Rinse! I am sure you are no stranger to the days lost from work and school by these extremely common illnesses. Do antibacterial soaps have an advantage over “regular” soap when it comes to reaping the benefits of hand washing? NO! So instead of debating on the type of soap to use just go ahead and wash properly.
I think we should focus on how to wash our hands properly but here is a quick reminder of MUST WASH HANDS situations:
Always wash your hands before:
• Preparing or eating food
• Treating wounds, giving medicine or taking care of a sick or injured patient
• Inserting or removing contact lenses
• Especially for children before going to bed. Sleep time is often associated with nose picking, eye rubbing and thumb sucking all of which can cause infections.
Always wash your hands after:
• Preparing food especially raw meat and poultry
• Using the toilet or changing a diaper
• Blowing your nose, coughing or sneezing into your hands
• Treating wounds or caring for a sick or injured person
• Touching or handling garbage/rubbish
• Handling animals (this includes your pets please)
Well remember to also wash whenever your hands are dirty.


STEPS FOR PROPER & EFFECTIVE HAND WASHING
1. Wash hands with running water and soap
a. If you do not have taps flowing, get someone to pour a steady stream of water
b. Washing in standing water may not be a good idea especially when more than one person is involved.
2. Rub your hands together for at least 20 seconds
3. Pay special attention to your wrists, back of your hands, between your fingers and underneath your fingernails.
4. Leave the water running while you dry your hands
a. This is a tricky one. The aim is to avoid recontamination so if using a tap keep it running till you dry your hands then use the paper towel to hold the tap to close it.
b. If only a single towel is available for all you may be better off not using it.
c. It may be helpful to carry tissue paper whenever you are out of home since it may come in handy. You may use to close the tap as well as open the bathroom door.
Remember that together we can improve our health through washing our hands with soap and water; by washing yours and encouraging others to do the same we will literally be using our hands to improve our health.
Make time within the week to teach these hand washing techniques at home, in church, at school, at the market or in your office. There is evidence to show that more and more people are either not washing their hands well or not washing them at all after using the bathroom especially when they think they “just” urinated. The gentleman you shook hands with two minutes ago had used the bathroom earlier and did not wash his hands; whenever in doubt please wash your hands after handshakes especially before eating.
AS ALWAYS LAUGH OFTEN, WALK AND PRAY EVERYDAY AND REMEMBER IT’S A PRICELESS GIFT TO KNOW YOUR NUMBERS (blood sugar, blood pressure, blood cholesterol, BMI)

Dr. Kojo Cobba Essel
Moms’ Health Club
(dressel@healthclubsgh.com)

*Dr Essel is a medical doctor and is ISSA certified in exercise therapy and fitness nutrition.
Thought for the week – “Washing your hands with soap and water is a DO-IT-YOURSELF vaccine. It can save your life. Just do it!”

Dr. Kojo Cobba Essel
Moms’ Health Club
www.healthclubsgh.com


Reference:
• Hand-washing; Topic Overview from webmd
• Hand washing Do’s and Don’ts ; Mayo Clinic Staff