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 How many of us really wash our hands after coming from the bathroom and before we handle any eatables? A majority of us would reply in the affirmative. However, if this were to be true then there would probably be a long queue outside the washrooms of all those fast food joints down the road but that is not the case. Observe any of those innumerable road side vendors where young and old make a beeline to enjoy the so-called delights.
Washing hands is perhaps the best control measure that one can adopt to ward off many of those deadly infections that plague mankind. It is not something that we have discovered today. It is what our parents always taught us when we were young and their parents taught them when they were young.
The Centre of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the USA has reported that hand washing is one of the most important means of preventing the spread of infection and it is the first line of defence for infectious diseases, including respiratory infections and gastrointestinal disorders. Regular hand washing can reduce the spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria too.
Despite increase in channels of communication and level of awareness, poor hygiene, unwashed or poorly washed hands, still contribute to many food-related illness outbreaks. Infectious diseases still remain the leading cause of death and disease all over the world.
 It is important to wash one's hands not only before and after handling food but also after handling pets, attending to a sick person and before eating. It is generally presumed that infection can spread only through sneezing and coughing which perhaps is not the total truth. A large number of infections are spread through hand contact.
In spite of these facts the numbers of those who follow this regimen is decreasing rapidly. A study conducted in America brought out an interesting fact that the habit of hand washing is gradually declining.
According to a leading medical website "Children who wash their hands effectively have fewer visits to the doctor, take fewer antibiotics, need fewer prescription medicines, have fewer illnesses and miss less school than their counterparts."
What does washing effectively mean? Children (and adults too) must be taught to wash their hands at all times. These include washing after defecating, after handling diapers, before handling food, before eating and before feeding children. It is not important to wash hands with a special brand of soap. Any cleansing agent with water but not water alone is useful. Even washing with ashes and water has proved to be more effective than washing with water or no washing at all.
The modern day canned food culture is another problem area. The hero in the canned soft drink advertisement just flips open the can and gulps down the drink. This practice is not without its dangers. A study by CDC discovered that the top of beverage cans can be encrusted with dried rat's urine, which is toxic and lethal.
 A letter to the Editor in The Hindu (February 27, 2001) speaks about a virus that lives in dried rat and mouse droppings. Once dried these droppings are like dust and can easily be ingested if a person is not careful to wash his hands and face thoroughly.
We, as a routine, wash vegetables and fruits before cooking them but don't take the same precaution with canned foods. It goes without saying that any product in our neighbourhood store or for that even a super market at one time or another was stored in a warehouse. It goes without saying that even the most modern of warehouses have rodent population. The posh supermarkets are no exception.
It would need nothing more than a source of running water and soap to wash the top of the next can of your favourite soft drink. The next best option would be to use a straw.
So remember that washing hands is one of the best, most powerful, inexpensive, non-invasive and effective measures to prevent infections of all most all types. Hand washing does require a little effort but much less than would be required to take care of your near and dear ones during the infections that you can thus prevent.
Anoop Khanna
Asst. Manager (PR)
For further details contact:
Loss Prevention Association of India Ltd., (LPA)
Seethakathi Chambers, ( 4th Floor)
688, Anna Salai, Chennai - 600 006.
Phone : 8524648, 8523920.
Fax: 8523746.
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