TheJakartaPost
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Handwashing saves lives but remains neglected
Washing hands with soap for at least 20 seconds is touted as one of the simplest everyday measures people can take to prevent COVID-19 infection. But nine months into the pandemic, many people are still reluctant to wash their hands in public.
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Illustration of hand washing. (Shutterstock/insta_photos)
W
ashing your hands with soap for at least 20 seconds is touted as one of the simplest everyday measures people can take to prevent COVID-19 infection. But nine months into the pandemic, many people are still reluctant to wash their hands in public.
In community unit (RW) 05 of Sunter Agung, Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta, at least 60 handwashing stations have been installed in public spaces and community halls gradually since the COVID-19 outbreak hit Jakarta.
RW 05 head Nurus Shobah said he had since found more and more people washed their hands using the facilities, especially children, who were often seen playing with the water.
“More people use it to protect themselves from COVID-19. But there is always a group of people who are not disciplined [in implementing health protocols],” he told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.
The government has since 1970 promoted a nationwide sanitation and hygiene campaign that includes efforts to encourage handwashing. Health authorities have stepped up efforts to make washing hands with soap a habit in recent years, especially after the declaration of Global Handwashing Day on Oct. 15, 2008 to suppress the child mortality due to diarrhea and to help prevent illnesses.
The handwashing campaign in Indonesia is mainly carried out through the Community-Based Total Sanitation (STBM) program that was launched in 2008, and primarily targets school children.
And now that Indonesia is in the grip of a pandemic, expanding the program to households and a wider public has become more pressing than ever, said Health Ministry director for environmental health Imran Agus Nurali.
