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Benefits And Importance Of Hand Washing

By Chimamanda Santos-Obi
06 June 2023   |   4:00 pm
We learnt a bit of the relevance of washing our hands when the covid-19 pandemic struck the world, but asides washing our hands to prevent the corona virus from harming us, there are more health benefits of hand washing that we may not know about. Hand washing, also known as hand hygiene, is the act…

We learnt a bit of the relevance of washing our hands when the covid-19 pandemic struck the world, but asides washing our hands to prevent the corona virus from harming us, there are more health benefits of hand washing that we may not know about.

Hand washing, also known as hand hygiene, is the act of cleaning one’s hands with soap or hand wash and water to remove bacteria, dirt, grease or other harmful and unwanted substances stuck to our hands.

We get rid of a lot of germs when we wash our hands. These germs can get on our hands after we use the toilet, or touch items that have germs on them because someone has sneezed or coughed on them. Germs from unwashed hands can get into our eyes, nose, mouths, food and drinks and cause sicknesses like cholera, diarrhea etc.

Handwashing is a simple act. Yet, it has so many health benefits. According to the centers for disease control and prevention (CDC) Frequent hand washing prevents people from getting sick with germs resistant to antibiotics. It also reduces people’s intake of antibiotics. Removing germs through hand washing helps prevent diarrhea, foodborne diseases outbreak and respiratory infections and it may further help prevent skin and eye infections.

Although people around the world clean their hands with water, very few use soap to wash their hands. It is much more effective to use soap to wash hands. It removes more germs, prevents illnesses and the spread of germs to others. We should form the good habit of washing our hands and parents should teach it to their children. Washing our hands regularly is one of the prerequisites of a healthy life.

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