ECJ EUROPEAN Cleaning Journal

Nearly a third of the world's population lack the facilities to wash their hands at home using soap and water, according to a new study.

However, promoting handwashing with soap could reduce the large endemic burden of respiratory disease.

The study, published in The Lancet and carried out by a global team of scientists, looks at how far hand hygiene can help to prevent acute respiratory infections. These are a leading cause of death globally.

Before the Covid-19 pandemic around 83 per cent of ARI deaths occurred in low-income and middle-income countries, according to scientists. Recent estimates of annual ARI deaths as a direct result of inadequate hand hygiene range from 270,000 to 370,000.

Following extensive analysis, study authors conclude that interventions promoting handwashing with soap can reduce ARI morbidity by about 17 per cent. And they add that proper hand hygiene can help to mechanically remove pathogens from the hands while also rupturing bacteria and viruses.

While hand hygiene is best facilitated by a water supply on premises, some 27 per cent of the population of low-income and middle-income countries - around 1.8 billion people - have no access to hand washing facilities at home.

Most governments promoted handwashing with soap during the pandemic in the same way as they did in previous outbreaks of avian and swine influenza, according to the study authors.

However, handwashing campaigns in normal times are rare which is considered to be a missed opportunity since promoting handwashing with soap could reduce the incidence of respiratory disease, it is claimed.