By: Soumya Sarkar
Wash your hands. These three words became a central pillar in preventing the spread of the Covid pandemic that upended the lives of millions, particularly in developing countries like India. We have now realised that the simple act of cleaning hands can save lives and reduce illness by helping prevent the spread of infectious diseases. The pandemic ensured that hand hygiene received unprecedented attention.
Today, machines dispensing sanitising solutions have become ubiquitous in India’s major cities like Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru. All public places like malls, cinema halls, offices and eateries are now sure to have such dispensers.
These machines are primarily of two types, both ensuring touch-free dispensing of sanitising fluids. The most common are the mechanical dispensers that have a foot paddle that is to be pressed for a squirt of sanitiser. The other, also becoming increasingly common, are based on sensors that once activated dispense a sanitiser solution.
For users of smartphones, there are even apps available that act as reminders to sanitise hands and also detail out the correct method of washing to rid the hands of harmful pathogens.
The public places that India’s middle class and the well-off visit are today virtually saturated with dispensers. However, both access to facilities to practise hand hygiene and support for the required behaviour are missing in many locations in the country, particularly in rural and low-income settings.
Government authorities and civil society organisations have rushed to fill in the void. In panchayats across the country, village leaders are encouraging their constituents to wash their hands regularly and provide sanitising dispensers to the extent possible, especially in marketplaces that see large congregations. Given the distributed nature of India’s villages, however, community provided sanitisation is still a challenge.
For a resource-strapped population, low-cost and convenient solutions go a long way to change people’s behaviour. For instance, Sehgal Foundation, a non-profit that works with marginalised people in 11 states, have designed a low-cost handwashing station.
The dispensers are simple, user friendly, easy to fabricate with bamboo that is a renewable and locally available resource, and has zero environmental footprint since the model reuses plastic waste. The station, that can easily be assembled locally and uses soap water, costs as low as Rs 260. These dispensers can be widely used in village schools and panchayat houses.
Similarly, WaterAid India, another non-governmental organisation, has helped design a handwashing unit that can be mounted on rickshaws at a low cost by using locally available material and soap water. It also launched a campaign called Wash On Wheels to make the mobile washing dispensers widely available.
Latest research suggests that handwashing solutions alone are not enough to ensure hand hygiene. Scientists have explored prototypes of innovative products that facilitate improved hand hygiene after defecation in low-income settings, particularly in urban slums.
They found that there were two most important factors in better hand hygiene in situations where water is a scarce commodity — products have to improve the effectiveness of the rinse, and hand cleaning at the home threshold improves the effectiveness and convenience of cleaning.
Attitudinal change towards handwashing, often a neglected area in our country, also needs specific initiatives. Both central and state governments have launched public awareness campaigns that underscore the importance of handwashing. Followed up by providing localised solutions, the campaigns could bring about a transformation on how Indians perceive the importance of handwashing for a healthy lifestyle.
Lastly, it is not only important to ensure hand hygiene but also to ensure that a scientific method is used to wash hands properly to get rid of infectious vectors. The pandemic forced authorities to issue handwashing protocols, when used precisely, can help avoid the spread of infections.
(Soumya Sarkar is a senior journalist based in New Delhi and Kolkata.)
Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article are personal.
