It’s a scientific fact that washing hands has the potential to save more lives than any single vaccine or medical intervention
Sir Frank Peters:
They say “every cloud has a silver lining”, which means that even the worst events or situations have some positive aspect.
While nobody would even dream of diminishing sympathy or respect for those who have died as a result of contracting the coronavirus, there is a positive side, although clouded at present. Coronavirus could be the catalyst that helps save more lives than it kills. Coronavirus is a stop-what-you’re-doing wake-up call.
At present, an aura of panic and fear has enveloped the entire world. Those who sneeze and cough are perceived to be potential killers. Even your loved ones have the potential of being seen as your worst enemies – the Trojan Horse, the enemy within
Never before has the world been more united in the war against an invisible-to-the-eye silent enemy than it is now. Never before has an enemy been so real and totally without religious or political prejudices. Coronavirus just doesn’t care. Young, middle-aged, old, political affiliations, religious beliefs… it doesn’t care. It’s void of all the usual patriotism, hang-ups and it’s totally indiscriminate and impartial.
A pandemic like coronavirus can bring out the best and worst humanity has to offer. It can engender an “everyone for themselves mentality and who gives a damn about everyone else” or bring an approach to the situation with understanding and compassion.
In Bangladesh, we have seen immoral shop owners seeking to take advantage of, and profit from, worried people during this health crisis by charging exorbitant amounts of taka for what would normally be cheap protective facemasks. Those shop owners do not deserve patronage when the crisis dissipates.
As the proverb tells us, every cloud has a silver lining and that also applies to coronavirus.
The Government of Bangladesh has campaigned to educate and get their citizens to form the habit of washing their hands regularly with soap and water. I, too, have contributed dozens of column inches in support. Not all newspapers and online news portals, however, have demonstrated interest in the welfare of their readers, but that’s their conscience.
The coronavirus pandemic has paused the world in its rotation and given governments a chance to think protection for its people. The issue of health has been skyrocketed to a dizzy height never before seen. Coronavirus is the number one topic on the lips of people everywhere, irrespective of the language in which it’s spoken. It has untied the world in a common goal.
And while it commands attention (and somewhat due respect) now is the time for the Government of Bangladesh (and the media) to hammer home the importance of cleanliness. The people are now listening and paying attention as never before.
It’s a scientific fact that washing hands has the potential to save more lives than any single vaccine or medical intervention. World’s leading scientists tell us washing our hands can prevent coronavirus attacks.
Dysentery
Countless people suffer unnecessarily in Bangladesh from diarrhoea, dysentery and other stomach ailments as a result of ignorance and improper hygiene practices.
We’ve all familiar with passive smoking and its alleged dangers, but a plethora of horrifically greater dangers, unseen by the naked eye, lurks silently and menacingly in our everyday environment, continuously threatening our health 24/7. Coronavirus is only one of them.
It is common knowledge in most parts of the world that hand hygiene is of vital importance for the overall well-being of society and washing the hands is one of the most important steps we can take to avoid getting sick and spreading germs to others.
Most politicians and celebrities carry disinfectant-soaked cloths they use after shaking the hands of their public. (And it’s recommended that you wash yours after shaking theirs!)
Washing our hands regularly with soap and clean running water (hot or cold doesn’t matter) can help stop the spread of germs and prevent illnesses like influenza, bronchitis, swine flu, diphtheria, measles, conjunctivitis, leprosy, chickenpox, coronavirus, scabies and among many more. Just by washing the hands has the potential to save more lives than any single vaccine or medical intervention and billions of dollars in medical expenses and medicines.
There are more than 3.5 million children under the age of five who die every year from diarrhoeal disease and pneumonia – and many are preventable.
Although many people clean their hands with water, medical science tells us that’s not enough. Soap MUST be used.
In view of the resources the government is spending to get people to wash their hands I was shocked to find no soap or any means to dry my hands in government-run hospitals government offices I visited.
Hygiene
Hospitals, diagnostic centres, doctor surgeries, and such as in Bangladesh should practice what they preach and set examples in hygiene. People take diseases to hospitals to be cured of them, not accrue more!
There can never be enough emphasis on good hygiene practices such as washing your hands with soap and running water, cleaning all utensils before cooking and keeping cooking places clean to prevent communicable diseases. Even at that, there are no guarantees of disease and discomfort-free existence, but the odds are stacked in your favour.
While TV, magazine and newspaper adverts and posters are productive and play an essential and supporting role in conveying the vital messages and importance of hand hygiene to the masses, TV soap operas reign supreme, but in Bangladesh, they are totally under-utilised.
People tune-in to soap operas to see a reflection of their own mundane boring lives on the small screen in the hope they will find an escape from, or solutions to, the problems they themselves face. While a 30-second commercial has the power to help convince the viewer s/he should be using Brand-X toothpaste, no doubt a 60-minute ‘real-life’ soap opera has the power to influence the thinking of the entire family.
To harness this enormous subliminal power effectively and give benefit to the nation, it is essential that TV scriptwriters play an active patriotic role and are encouraged by the government and TV bosses to write scenes into their dramas that promote good hygiene practices (and other important society-benefitting issues).
While the entertainment value of soap operas themselves might be questionable, if not laug¬hable, they can at least serve and help protect the health of their viewers by promoting the proper and beneficial use of soap. After all they are soap operas!
(Sir Frank Peters is a former newspaper publisher and editor, an award-winning writer, a humanitarian, a Goodwill Ambassador and a foreign friend of Bangladesh).
