Improving Hygiene Starting with Handwashing. What are the initiatives taken in India and Niger?

Improving Hygiene Starting with Handwashing. What are the initiatives taken in India and Niger?

Since the coronavirus disaster, the importance of “hand washing” has been recognized once again. Handwashing” is simple and easy, yet highly effective in preventing infectious diseases such as new coronavirus. However, there are many countries and regions in the world where correct hand washing methods and practices and hand washing facilities are not widespread enough to prevent prevent preventable diseases. On the occasion of World Handwashing Day on October 15, let’s think about handwashing once again.

India has a low hand washing penetration rate, and the corona pandemic that hit the country reported that 36% of people in India wash their hands before eating, and 25% in rural areas (Note 1). Although eating with hands is common in India, the practice of washing hands with soap is not widespread. Every year, 13-14% of the 2.3 million deaths of children under the age of 5 in India are due to diarrheal diseases, a common manifestation of infectious diseases (Note 2). Thus, while infectious disease control and hygiene awareness was originally an urgent need, the last few years have seen the spread of new coronaviruses around the world. In India, the number of people infected with the new coronavirus has increased rapidly, and at one point the number of deaths exceeded 4,000 per day, creating a serious situation. The need for improved sanitation was once again strongly recognized.

(Note 1) National Sample Survey Organization (2018). 76th Round.

(Note 2) Gupta et al (2021). Why don’t they do it? Handwashing barriers and influencer study in Faridabad district, India.

Good Habits” Campaign to reach 100 million people JICA India Office launched the “Achchi Aadat” campaign in January 2021 to improve such a situation and to enhance hygiene from a long-term perspective. The campaign, which means “good practice” in Hindi, aims to raise awareness of hygiene among 100 million people. The campaign was launched with the four pillars of hand washing, nail clipping, masks, and social distance.

In collaboration with local consultants and NGOs, we have conducted hygiene awareness activities called “Achoo Ahdat Sessions” in cooperation with public organizations, schools, and hospitals. Through the provision of free hygiene products, hygiene awareness programs, and distribution of educational materials, we have promoted the importance of hand washing habits, proper nail trimming, mask wearing, and social distance. Including online sessions and TV and social media outreach, the program has worked in 23 states and federal territories, reaching 65 million people. The awareness-raising activities are doubling and tripling as session attendees conduct another session in their schools, workplaces, and communities.

The campaign was carried out smoothly and effectively thanks to the cooperation of 11 Japanese private companies operating in India and Japanese local governments such as Yokohama City and Kumamoto Prefecture, with whom the JICA India Office has had a relationship to date. LIXIL Corporation donated a simple hand-washing station, Kaijirushi Corporation donated nail clippers with a pick to remove dirt between fingernails, and Ryohin Keikaku donated cloth masks that can be used repeatedly.

Let’s sing, dance, and learn “proper hand washing! Especially popular among children were the hand-washing awareness videos created in collaboration with characters. Cute characters such as Hello Kitty and Kumamon sing and dance to a cheerful rhythm while explaining the importance of hand washing and how to wash hands properly. Since many Indian people love to sing and dance, the music and dance videos were effective in educating people not only in their heads, but also in their ears and bodies.

I learned how to wash my hands properly for the first time in my life, and it was a valuable experience. Before attending the session, I didn’t really understand the importance of hand washing, but now I can tell everyone else the right way to do it. Sapna Kumari from Dhawaiya village, Jharkhand, describes her session experience.

This campaign was originally scheduled to last until March of this year, but due to the situation where the new coronavirus infection has not been contained, the campaign has been extended until March of next year, 2023. Following last year’s event, this year, the campaign held events for World Handwashing Day, including handwashing demonstrations and parades at seven locations in Delhi over a four-day period from October 11 to 14, to raise awareness of hand hygiene. We will continue our activities with a view to establishing “good habits” while aiming to reach 100 million people.

Niger, where women are at high risk of childbirth, is also home to a relay-style hygiene promotion project.

One of the major sanitation problems in Niger is the high risk of childbirth for women: the maternal mortality rate in 2018 was 509 per 100,000 live births. Because of the high rate of early marriage, with one in four women marrying before the age of 15, and many women giving birth at a young age, the risk of childbirth is higher than in other African countries. The infant mortality rate is also decreasing year by year, but remains high at 48 per 1,000 live births in 2018. This is due to poor sanitation, inadequate hygiene education, and difficulties in accessing medical facilities. Immediate improvements in sanitation, including prevention of infectious diseases, were needed.

The project trained 350 public health nurses and community health workers selected from the local population on improving maternal and child health and combating infectious diseases. The community health workers then conducted additional awareness-raising activities in their own communities, expanding the training in a relay format.

Learning the importance of hygiene, fewer unsafe home births “For residents, having an older person or acquaintance explain things to them, rather than an outside stranger, gives them a sense of trust. For community health workers, learning can be deepened by sharing what they have learned with others. In addition, the community health workers remain in the area after the project is over, so we can expect sustainability of the activities. Mr. Chikara Yamamoto of JICA’s Niger Branch Office says.

Awareness of “proper hand washing” was one of the key elements of this project as well. In village life, people do not have toilets at home, or even if they do, they cannot use them due to the large number of family members, so they sometimes use toilets a short distance away from their homes. Leaves or wood may be used instead of toilet paper, and in some cases, people return to their daily lives without washing their hands. In such a sanitary environment, hand washing is essential to protect the health of mothers and children against infectious diseases. During the training, portable water tanks, buckets, and soap were used to introduce hand washing methods, and residents also had a chance to experience hand washing.

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