In 2019, India witnessed more than 1.3 crore cases of acute diarrhoeal disease, 24 lakh typhoid cases and over 5 lakh vector borne diseases like dengue, malaria etc. Even today, foreign visitors traveling to India are advised to take typhoid shots even when they are visiting urban areas.
The burden of hygiene and sanitation related illnesses is high in the country imposing a huge cost on our economy. Not just that, it also puts the already insufficient healthcare infrastructure under massive burden. There is the regular influx of patients suffering from these easily avoidable diseases.
Therefore, it is extremely important to focus on improving the overall Water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) facilities in the country by building more toilets, keeping them clean, and adopting proper sanitising techniques for our public areas. The Covid-19 pandemic and the subsequent measures adopted to stop its spread have already taught us various lessons on maintaining a healthy hygiene in our public facilities to fight the spread of diseases.
Let’s talk some numbers
Research by WHO has shown that half of the world’s population does not have access to clean and safe toilets. However, solely updating the infrastructure may not provide the necessary results. An overall behavioural change is also necessary to achieve this goal. Behavioural change for better hygiene not only prevents diseases, but it also reduces malnutrition. All this leads to improving the well-being of children and adults.
The government of India too is tryin to to promote hygiene and sanitation, including behavioural changes. One of the biggest campaigns of the government has been about making India defecation free. In 2019, the government declared that India has become an Open Defecation Free (ODF) country. While there are questions around the practice having been eliminated, the work towards building toilets and spreading awareness around the issue has certainly made a huge difference.
So, what are the ways to achieve behavioural change? Where does WASH fit into all this?
- Washing hands properly at critical moments
History shows that the reduction in diseases and increase in human population correlates with the invention of soap and better hygiene facilities. A simple act of washing hands regularly and properly, especially at critical moments like coming in contact with a possible contaminant, or before eating can go a long way. Many of the hygiene related diseases spread because of eating food with dirty hands that may carry harmful bacteria. Therefore, this is the most basic habit that one needs to adopt in their daily lives.
- Water management
Another major cause of the spread of diseases is poor water management facilities in our public spaces. Poor water treatment and improper storage facilities for drinking water can lead to contamination, which may cause water-related diseases. This is also common in a country like India where sewerage systems are still not equipped with the rapidly expanding urban spaces. Poor water management also lead to vector borne diseases because of these spaces turning into a breeding ground for mosquitoes.
- Sanitation facilities and faecal management
Studies in the past have shown that faecal matter is found in the street food in different cities of India. This is primarily because of the lack of standards around hygiene for these establishments and also an acute shortage of clean sanitation facilities. This leads to poor faecal management and may cause serious contamination in the food that we ingest.
Change from within with WASH
It is critical that best-in-class sanitation facilities are provided while also working towards improving our own hygiene behaviour. To avoid such contamination, food material can be handled with care or the consumers can make better decisions of eating from outside keeping in mind the overall hygiene of the place.
Apart from this, there are several other behavioural changes that are required and encouraged, like menstrual hygiene and food hygiene. It is especially important to promote hygienic behaviour among children as such habits can be learnt the best during early years. While maintaining hygiene in institutions, schools and public spaces – children can also be taught about WASH through formal education.
At the same time, we cannot forget about the need for improving sanitation infrastructure in the country. This is especially for the marginalised sections of our population forced to live in poor conditions with extremely bad facilities, open drains shortage of drinking water, etc.
The government and non-government bodies including development organizations are responsible for work in this area. Improving hygiene and sanitation infrastructure in these areas is beneficial for everyone. It reduces the overall disease burden and stops its spread to the rest of the population as well. Not just that, it can also free-up our healthcare facilities so that we can focus on fighting more critical illnesses.
Smile Foundation’s work
Amid the Covid-19 pandemic, Smile Foundation through its ‘Health Cannot Wait’ nation-wide initiative provided hygiene kits to less privileged families. Hygiene and sanitation are an area in which the organization continues to work through necessary interventions at different levels. India has, over the years, seen a number of campaigns /initiatives to spread awareness about this issue. As we move towards becoming one of the largest economies in the world, it is time that we go back to the basics and promote WASH for better health for all.
