Hygiene

Through WaterAid's partners Zeytu's community in Ethiopia has learnt of the health benefits that come with good hygiene.

Credit: WaterAid / Jenny Matthews

To gain the full benefits of safe water and sanitation communities also need to know about the links between diseases and unsafe hygiene practices.

Hygiene education focuses on issues such as personal hygiene - the simple act of washing hands with soap and water can reduce diarrhoeal diseases by a third.

Common diseases related to poor water, sanitation and unsafe hygiene practices are:

Cholera, hepatitis A, dysentery, giardiasis, polio, e-coli, diarrhoea, typhoid, salmonella food poisoning, bilharzia, guinea worm, intestinal parasites like hookworm and tapeworm, and trachoma.

Zeytu, from Hora Boka, Ethiopia explains the differences that hygiene education has brought to her community.

"We thought it was evil spirits that made our babies sick. But now we have been taught it is not that which makes our children ill, it is the lack of clean water and the absence of cleanliness - now we know why our children have problems."

"The biggest problems are internal parasites, diarrhoea and scabies. We are taught how to care for our children, about the latrine and hygiene education."

WaterAid helps teach communities about safe hygiene practices and the links between water and sanitation and diseases.

This enables people to become healthier and live in a cleaner environment.

Download the Hygiene education issue sheet (PDF 315Kb)