Hand washing can help reduce respiratory problems by 25 percent, according to a study conducted jointly by UNICEF and World Health Organization.
A hug amount of children die of diarrhea every year in poor countries, but 40 percent of those can be saved through the practice of hand washing. UNICEF program coordinator Shirin Hossain, referring to the study conducted told the briefing that Bangladesh was one of the 10 top countries in the world in respect of child mortality rate. As many as 50,800 children under the age of five die in Bangladesh every year, it said. The mortality rate is on rise for not washing hands properly which is the cause for spreading germs.
DPHE chief engineer Syed Nuruzzaman said: "Over 3.5 million children die in the world every year before they reach the age of five. Of them 85 percent children die in South Asia and Sub-Sahara regions."
Children of more than 80,000 schools and madrasas in the country are participating in the Hand Washing Day program with the assistance of DPHE, UNICEF, Unilever, Save the Children and Plan Bangladesh.
As many as 1.44 crore children attended the day's program last year which was placed in Guinness Book of World Records. Mentioning a joint study of DPHE and ICDDRB, he said only one percent people in Bangladesh wash their hands before eating and 30 percent people wash hands after going to the toilet. The rate increased by 17 percent in the last one year, but the rate is not satisfactory, the official said, underlining the need for launching a countrywide campaign for making the hand washing practice compulsory for all citizens, specially the children.
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