THE EFFECT OF VISUAL AID EDUCATION FOR HYGIENE EDUCATION IN SCHOOL AGE CHILDREN ON BONAIRE - A PILOT STUDY

By Abhas Mathur and Ahsan Ullah

"Clean hands save lives" (CDC).

"Embedding hand hygiene promotional activities as a national priority are the key for sustainability" (WHO).

Bonaire SJSM students report sent to WHO (excerpt):

"We proposed a Hand-washing study to a nearby elementary school, hesitant at first, but upon further inquiry our reflection of passion towards this subject spread through the school’s faculty. We were welcomed to do the study, and the teachers were eager to lend a hand. Diarrheal diseases for example are prominent on the island, and hand hygiene being taught to school children can improve the island total overall quality of life. My Colleagues and I, with the help of our mentor, have administered a study on the island of Bonaire in regards to your mandate on teaching proper hand washing technique in a school age population. We found that none of the school children washed their hands according to W.H.O. specifications, in fact some didn’t even use soap, however just after a few short weeks and two follow ups later we had around 17% of our total population washing hands according to W.H.O standards.

and WHO response (excerpt):

"We read the information on your activities with great interest. Although our guidelines on hand hygiene mainly target health care workers, we welcome training activities on hand hygiene in schools to improve the hygiene behaviour among school children and pupils". Clean Care is Safer Care Team WHO Patient Safety savelives@who.int http://www.who.int/gpsc/en/