I cringe every time I enter a restroom and a full-grown man comes out of the toilet cubicle, or does his thing in front of the urinal, zips up, pretends not to see the hand-wash basin and water tap, grabs the doorknob or handle with his unwashed hands, and walks away as if nothing just happened. Oftentimes, I feel like accosting him and giving him a lecture on how not to leave the restroom without washing his hands.
It is particularly irritating when such a person is an older adult.
How can an adult not know that it is akin to a mortal sin to use the restroom and not wash his hands? It is easy to correct children who are still in the process of learning how to do things right, but how does one correct an adult on something as basic as handwashing—something that is taught in kindergarten or elementary school?
Unfortunately, as much as I want to be the health police of the world, it is painful that there is not much I can do in such a situation.
People, especially if they are adults, will feel embarrassed, or even insulted, if another adult tries to correct or lecture them on what many children are already doing as a habit. So, the only thing I can do is what I am doing now: write and hope that someone somewhere will read, have a change of heart, and do the needful before coming out of the restroom or using his hands.
Someone may even be getting angry reading this piece because, after all, the hands he or she does not wash after using the restroom are his (or hers), not mine. But here is the thing: our hands naturally pick up some germs when we touch or visit certain places. Apart from the fact that we are likely to put those germs in our mouth, eyes, or ears and harm ourselves (which, of course, I could be reminded is not my business), we are likely to touch things used by other people who have no idea what we have touched or where we have been. Doorknobs, computer mice, staircase railings, car door handles, spoons, plates, steering wheels, and more.
That is where it becomes my business and should be everyone else’s business. The unsuspecting people touching or using those same things, which you have touched and deposited some germs on, are likely to go away with something they have no idea you are spreading.
Handwashing can actually be viewed as a moral duty. It represents an acknowledgment of your actions and their potential impact on the health and well-being of others. This then involves a conscious effort on your part to prevent harm (like spreading germs or diseases) to those around you, thus demonstrating a respect for human life.
The truth is that handwashing has been practiced by man from time immemorial. A Hungarian doctor, Ignaz Semmelweis, is however credited with the first modern breakthrough in handwashing around 1847. While working in a maternity ward, Semmelweis noticed that women whose doctors washed their hands before delivering their babies had lower rates of childbed fever, also known as postpartum infection or puerperal fever.
Using chlorinated lime solution in handwashing was then mandated, and it drastically reduced these infections.
Louis Pasteur’s development of the germ theory of disease in the 1850s established the importance of microorganisms in causing diseases. Thus, Pasteur’s work can be said to have laid the foundation for modern hygiene practices, including handwashing.
In the 1860s, Joseph Lister, inspired by Pasteur’s germ theory, introduced antiseptic surgery, advocating for the sterilisation of surgical instruments and handwashing for surgeons. This drastically reduced infections in hospitals.
As the germ theory of disease became widely accepted in the early 1900s, handwashing was increasingly recommended as a basic hygiene practice. Public health campaigns in many countries began to promote handwashing for disease prevention.
Then the development of modern soap and detergent formulas in the 1920s made handwashing more effective at removing bacteria, viruses, and dirt. With this, soap became a vital tool in public health campaigns.
From the late 20th and early 21st centuries, the World Health Organisation (WHO), with other health bodies, started emphasising handwashing as a vital part of disease prevention, particularly in controlling the spread of infectious diseases such as diarrhoea and cholera. Handwashing then gained attention in campaigns to reduce the spread of diseases like the flu, norovirus, and more recently, COVID-19. The importance of proper handwashing—with soap and water for at least 20 seconds—became a key message in public health education worldwide and has remained so.
And the benefits of proper handwashing are immense, according to international health agencies and researchers. They include:
30-50% reduction in diarrhoeal diseases.
16-21% reduction in respiratory infections.
50% reduction in healthcare-associated infections.
50-75% reduction in foodborne illnesses.
20-50% reduction in absenteeism from schools due to illness.
The National Foundation for Infectious Diseases is emphatic in its assertion that 1 million deaths could be prevented annually if proper handwashing were universally practiced. And the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) stated in its 2021 State of the World’s Hand Hygiene: “As well as preventing a multitude of diseases, hand hygiene can help avoid significant financial costs resulting from sickness and death.”
It is therefore important to wash your hands before eating, after using the bathroom, after coughing, before and while preparing food, and as often as you have the opportunity to. That means you can do it at home, at work, while travelling, or out there in the community.
Your health matters, so take care of it!
Ojenagbon, a health communication expert, lives in Lagos.
