Dirty Hands
posted in - Health tips, - Jimbo, - Medical Updates |People, at least in the USA, are washing their hands less compared to 2 years ago after visiting the washrooms. An observational study of more than 6,000 people conducted this year by the American Society of Microbiology and the Soap and Detergent Association found that 77% of men and women washed their hands after using public washrooms in six locations in four major cities – New York, Chicago, Atlanta, and San Francisco; down from 83% just 2 years ago.
In the same report, men lagged behind the opposite sex in washing their hands. In 2007, men washed their hands just 66% of the time, down from 75% in the previous survey in 2005. In contrast, 88% of women washed, although that’s still down 2% from 2005.
According to July Daly, Ph.D University of Utah, “The single most important thing we can all do to keep from getting infectious diseases and spreading them to others is to clean our hands.”
You can read the report here: ICAAC: Hand Hygiene Slipping in Public Washrooms
I shudder to think what our results will show if a similar study is done in Kuala Lumpur or any of the major towns in Malaysia. I consider myself very lucky if the public toilet I visit have functional water taps! No need to talk about handwashing liquid being provided! Ugh! I carry a bottle of alcohol-based handwash with me all the time.
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October 2nd, 2007 at 3:41 pm
baby wipes also good.
October 3rd, 2007 at 8:42 pm
Some private hospitals in Penang do not have soap and paper towels in their toilets. I wonder what sort of medical personnel they have on their staff
October 3rd, 2007 at 8:53 pm
Maybe they do but they were all pinched by canny Penangites
October 3rd, 2007 at 11:00 pm
this happen even in private clinic also. wonder the doctors earn so much but jus to provide toilet roll and a soap liquid is such a pain in the ass.wonder do doctors and nurses of that clinic use tat toilet also?
October 4th, 2007 at 7:31 am
I used to buy liquid handwash for the GP clinic that I do locum work for. I agree with panda, these clinics make tons of money per day and yet cannot fork out money to buy a bottle of handwash which cost less than RM 8. I did it for 2 reasons, one for my own use and two, to shame the management.