Global Handwashing Day: India’s Current Situation
India has made progress in sanitation but there’s a long way to go. Gaps persist in rural and urban settlements, schools, public toilets and healthcare facilities. Water shortages, poor maintenance, lack of awareness and poor handwashing habits remain major challenges.
Who Is Most Vulnerable to Infections from Poor Hand Hygiene?
- Children under five: Higher risk of diarrhoea, dehydration.
- Older adults: Greater risk of complications.
- Women and adolescent girls: Often face inadequate privacy and education. Especially regarding menstrual hygiene.
- People in water-scarce and overcrowded communities: Greater exposure to contaminated hands and filthy surroundings.
- People with diabetes or weakened immunity: May be more vulnerable to infections.
- Cancer patients, kidney/liver transplant cases or those undergoing chemotherapy or taking immunosuppressant medicines need specific precautions.
What Diseases Can Poor Hand Hygiene Cause?
Poor hand hygiene can contribute to the spread of:
- Diarrhoeal diseases, including infections caused by E. coli, Shigella and norovirus.
- Hepatitis A and hepatitis E, which spread mainly through the faecal–oral route.
- Typhoid fever, transmitted through contaminated food and water.
- Respiratory infections, including influenza and some other viral illnesses.
- Certain skin and eye infections.
Contaminated hands can transfer germs to food, drinking water, utensils, door handles and the mouth, nose or eyes. Hand hygiene is especially important before eating and after toilet use.
What Does Recent Data Tell Us About Handwashing in India?
India’s National Family Health Survey-5, conducted from 2019 to 2021, reported that approximately 70% of households had a handwashing place with both soap and water available.
Can an Illness Be Linked to Poor Hand Hygiene?
Yes, for example, acute gastroenteritis in children may occur following exposure to contaminated food or hands. Hand hygiene is an important preventive measure, although an individual infection cannot always be attributed to handwashing practices alone.
Women’s Hygiene Challenges
During menstruation, women need clean water and soap to wash their hands before and after changing sanitary napkins. Inadequate privacy, poorly maintained public toilets, water shortages and unsafe disposal facilities make this difficult. Safe and hygienic disposal of sanitary napkins is as important.
Menstruation itself is not unhygienic. The problem is the lack of safe, clean and dignified facilities and proper education to young girls regarding hygiene.
What If Soap and Water Are Unavailable in Public Toilets?
Carry a small bottle of alcohol-based hand sanitiser containing at least 60% alcohol. Use it on visibly clean, dry hands when soap and water are unavailable.
Avoid touching your face and food with unwashed hands. Wash your hands with soap and water as soon as facilities become available.
Public toilets need a reliable water supply, soap dispensers, drainage, cleaning schedules and regular maintenance.
Why Are Children Under Five Especially Vulnerable?
Young children frequently touch contaminated surfaces, put their hands and objects in their mouths, and lack awareness. Diarrhoea can quickly cause dehydration in this age group, while repeated intestinal infections may contribute to poor nutrition and impaired growth.
Parents should supervise handwashing, washing their hands after using the toilet and before eating. Schools should provide child-friendly washing stations and make handwashing part of the daily routine.
Correct Handwashing Practices
When Should You Wash Your Hands?
- Before preparing or eating food.
- After using the toilet.
- After coughing or blowing your nose.
- After handling waste.
- Before caring for a sick person, and before and after wound care.
How to Wash Your Hands Properly
Rub hands with soap for at least 20 seconds, covering palms, backs of hands, between fingers, thumbs, fingertips and nails. Rinse with clean running water and dry with a clean towel.
Is Plain Water Enough for Handwashing?
Soap and water are much more effective at removing dirt, grease and many disease-causing germs. Plain water alone is not the preferred method.
Affordable Hand Hygiene Prevention at Home, Work and While Travelling
- Keep an inexpensive bar of soap near the wash area.
- Use a clean water container with a tap where running water is unavailable.
- Carry a small sanitiser when travelling.
- Wash hands before meals, including when eating street food.
- Keep drinking water covered and food properly stored.
- Ensure food handlers follow hand hygiene consistently.
What Should the Government and Society Do?
Hand hygiene must become a basic public service.
- Ensure continuous water and soap availability in public toilets, schools and hospitals.
- Provide separate, safe toilets with menstrual hygiene facilities.
- Install affordable handwashing stations in schools, anganwadis, and community spaces.
- Train healthcare workers in hand hygiene.
- Conduct public awareness campaigns and ensure budgets for sanitation infrastructure.
Conclusion
Many common infections are preventable. Handwashing is one of the simplest, most affordable and effective public health measures, but awareness alone is not enough. We must make clean water, soap and handwashing facilities accessible to everyone.
Consult a General Physician in Gurgaon
If you or your family are dealing with frequent stomach infections, fever or other symptoms that may be linked to poor hand hygiene, consult Dr. Sfurti Mann, a trusted general physician in Gurgaon at Ananta Health Clinic, Sector 66.