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Hygiene, Hand Washing, Clean Water and Sanitation
Safe drinking water is essential to good health. But
in resource-poor settings, water often comes from
unsafe sources and carries deadly pathogens. Of the
nearly two million deaths from diarrheal disease
each year, many are due to an unsafe water supply.
PATH’s Safe Water Project is testing commercial
market approaches for household water treatment and
safe storage products in Andhra Pradesh, India,
learning about bridging the gap in the distribution
of products to developing-country poor. The
project focuses on working with partners to build
distribution channels, improve existing products to
make them more appropriate for low-income settings,
and learn about generating demand to sustain correct
use and purchase decisions. Ultimately, the project
will provide strategies and tools for scale-up,
replication, and sustainability for a range of
settings. Research on the water treatment market,
products, and behaviors is also being conducted in
Vietnam, Cambodia, Ghana, Tanzania, and Kenya to
support these strategies and tools. More information
is available on the
PATH website.
UNICEF collaborates with partners, families, and
communities in more than 90 countries to improve
water supply and sanitation, promote safe hygiene
practices, and give urgent relief in response to
disrupted water supplies and waterborne diseases.
A product demonstration teaches
women in India about options for water
treatment.
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Key resources
Below are some key documents on handwashing,
clean water, and sanitation. Please also visit our
partners’ websites for more resources.
Other helpful websites
References
1 United Nations Millennium
Development Goals.
PATH/JVG Krishnamurthy.
Reproduced from the PATH Resources for Diarrheal Disease Control website at
www.eddcontrol.org, [6 November, 2009].
Why it is important to share and act on information about
Hygiene
More than half of all illnesses and deaths among young children are caused by germs that get into their mouths through food or water or dirty hands. Many of these germs come from human and animal faeces.
Many illnesses, especially diarrhoea, can be prevented by good hygiene practices: putting all faeces in a toilet or latrine; washing hands with soap and water or ash and water after defecating or handling children's faeces, and before feeding children or touching food; and ensuring that animal faeces are kept away from the house, paths, wells and children's play areas.
Everyone in the community needs to work together to build and use toilets and latrines, protect water sources, and safely dispose of waste water and garbage. It is important for governments to support communities by providing information on low-cost latrines and toilet facilities that all families can afford. In urban areas, government support is needed for low-cost sanitation and drainage systems, improved drinking water supply, and garbage collection.
What every family and community has a right to know about Hygiene
Supporting information for key messages:
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- All faeces should be disposed of safely. Using a toilet or latrine is the best way.
(Supporting Information)
- All family members, including children, need to wash their hands thoroughly with soap and water or ash and water after contact with faeces, before touching food, and before feeding children.
(Supporting Information)
- Washing the face with soap and water every day helps to prevent eye infections. In some parts of the world, eye infections can lead to trachoma, which can cause blindness.
(Supporting Information)
- Only use water that is from a safe source or is purified. Water containers need to be kept covered to keep the water clean.
(Supporting Information)
- Raw or leftover food can be dangerous. Raw food should be washed or cooked. Cooked food should be eaten without delay or thoroughly reheated.
(Supporting Information)
- Food, utensils and food preparation surfaces should be kept clean. Food should be stored in covered containers.
(Supporting Information)
- Safe disposal of all household refuse helps prevent illness.
(Supporting Information)
Hygiene On-line Resources
A complete and up-to-date list of the
following and related resources can be found at
Enhanced Diarrheal Disease Control
Resource Center
Effect of washing hands with soap on diarrhoea risk in the
community: A systematic review (abstract only; 2003)
Through a systematic review, the authors found that washing hands with
soap can reduce the risk of diarrheal diseases by up to 47 percent and
hand-washing promotion could save one million lives. The review also
calls for more and better-designed trials to further measure the impact
of hand-washing on diarrhea and acute respiratory infections in
developing countries.
Curtis V, Cairncross S. Lancet. 3(5):275-281.
Clean hands reduce the burden of disease (2005)
This commentary describes the complexities of hand-washing promotion
among low-resource communities, in reference to a study conducted in
Pakistan that found a reduction in infectious disease incidence,
including diarrheal episodes, through application of hand-hygiene
education and resources.
Pittet D. Lancet. 366(9841):185–186.
 pdf
365 kb
The handwashing handbook: A guide for developing a hygiene
promotion program to increase handwashing with soap (2005)
This guide was created for public health staff working to implement
community hand-washing programs and decision-makers developing public
health policy on hygiene practices.
World Bank
pdf English
1.57 mb
Health, dignity and development: What will it take? (2005)
With respect to achieving the Millennium Development Goals, this report
focuses on the necessary steps and potential impact of expanding and
sustaining water supply and sanitation coverage
World Health Organization (WHO) Millennium Project Task Force on Water
and Sanitation
pdf
English 1.71 mb
General information
Global water supply and sanitation assessment report (2000)
The report provides a global overview of water supply and sanitation.
WHO and UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply and
Sanitation
Health in Your Hands: The global public-private partnership
for handwashing with soap
This collaboration of international organizations promotes handwashing
with soap as an intervention to reduce the incidence of diarrheal
disease in poor communities. Resources on this website include lessons
learned, behavior studies, public service announcements, and much more.
Water Supply and Sanitation Division
World Bank
This website provides information about World Bank activities
addressing water and sanitation strategy and policies. Activities are
categorized by topic and/or region.
Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene Development
Division
This division of WHO performs activities and provides guidance toward
sanitation improvement and enhanced hygiene practices.
WHO
Water and health in Mali (2006)
This case study from the UN’s World Water Development Report 2006
provides an overview of health challenges faced by a lack of clean water
in poor communities in Mali and outlines efforts to address them.
United Nations (UN)
pdf English
251 Kb
Guidelines
PHAST step-by-step guide: A participatory approach for the
control of diarrhoeal diseases (1998)
This manual was developed through the work of Participatory Hygiene and
Sanitation Transformation, a collaboration between WHO and the UN, and
aims to guide community interventions through the development of a plan
to prevent diarrheal diseases by improving water supply, hygiene
behaviors, and sanitation.
WHO (WHO/EOS/98.3)
Research
Evaluation of the costs and benefits of water and sanitation
at the global level (2004)
The aim of this study was to estimate the economic costs and benefits of
selected interventions toward water and sanitation improvement. The
document presents both regional and global analyses.
WHO
A randomized, controlled trial of a multifaceted intervention
including alcohol-based hand sanitizer and hand-hygiene education to
reduce illness transmission in the home (abstract only; 2005)
This study analyzed the use of hand sanitizer and hygiene education
among families who have at least one child enrolled in out-of-home care
and found that transmission of illness was reduced when interventions
with alcohol-based sanitizer and multifaceted education messages were
introduced.
Sandora T, et al. Pediatrics. 116(3):587–594.
Effect of Intensive Handwashing Promotion on Childhood
Diarrhea in High-Risk Communities in Pakistan (2004)
This study implemented handwashing interventions with plain and
antibacterial soap and found that diarrhea incidence was reduced among
children of ages ranging from infancy to 15 years.
Luby S, Agboatwalla M, Painter J, Altaf A, Billhimer W, Hoekstra R.
Journal of the American Medical Association; 291(21):2547–2554.
Handwashing-related research findings (1998)
This summary provides statistics on hand-washing practices in the US, as
reported and observed through the Handwashing Observational and
Telephone Survey conducted for the Bayer Corporation Pharmaceutical
Division in association with the American Society for Microbiology.
US Food and Drug Administration
Water, sanitation and hygiene: Interventions and diarrhoea -
A systematic review and meta-analysis (2004)
This paper offers a review of studies in developing countries, as well
as in established market economies, that assessed the public health
impact of specific interventions in water quality, water supply,
hygiene, and sanitation.
Fewtrell L, Colford J. World Bank
pdf English 1
mb
Reported measures of hygiene and incidence rates for
hospital-acquired diarrhea in 31 French pediatric wards: Is there any
relationship? (2003)
This study evaluated simple hygienic measures for reducing
hospital-acquired diarrhea.
Jusot J, Vanhems P, Benzait F, et al. Infection Control and Hospital
Epidemiology. 24(7):520–525.
pdf English
136 kb
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