Maintaining good hygiene to keep diseases at bay

Domestic hygiene and sanitation is a not a mere need but an absolute compulsion for every human being. The thing that differentiates humans from animals is our need and habit of giving cleanliness the top most priority. 

Cleanliness of our body and clothes, preparing food in a clean environment, good living habits, having clean and healthy food is all a part of domestic and personal hygiene. The more we keep ourselves and our ambiance clean, we keep diseases, germs and infections away from us. Not only we can keep diseases away, but maintaining a clean environment at our home invites positive energy. Our mind stays healthy with the neat and clean surroundings. And our soul stays upbeat, energetic and positive. The more you would have clutter and dirt in your surroundings, the more you will find your mind to be messy. 

Cleanliness is the basic nature of human beings. We cannot be happy and content in a place covered with dirt. This is what I have been taught from my childhood. Here are some of the ways in which good sanitation and hygiene play a role in our everyday lives.

The daily domestic habits for maintaining proper hygiene and sanitation:

Right from the time we wake up in the morning, we concentrate on cleaning ourselves and our house. The bed should always be kept clean and we should never walk in our bedroom with the shoes we wear outside. The bedroom is the place which demands to be kept clean the most. The floors of our house should be regularly swept and washed to keep germs away. The utensils and dishes should be cleaned right after having our meals so that accumulation of microorganisms can be prevented there. 

If we do not clean your house regularly, dirt and moisture would start accumulating. It would provide the ideal place for germs, microorganisms and parasites to grow and multiply. They would spread diseases and make the people living in the house sick. 

Cleaning the toilet regularly:

The washroom of our house should be cleaned regularly. Harmful waterborne microorganisms can spread germs if it is not cleaned frequently and gets dirty. We must always keep toilet paper in our washroom. The basin, shower and bathtubs must be thoroughly cleaned at least once a week. The floors of the washroom should be swept so that it stays dry. 

Cleaning the kitchen always to protect food from bacterial contamination:

If we do not store food properly and do not keep our kitchen clean, bacteria would contaminate the food and spread infections. We must store the leftover food properly in the refrigerator to prevent microorganisms from multiplying. We must wash our hands with soap and wear a cooking apron before cooking as bacteria can get on food from our dirty hands and dirty clothes. 

Food contamination often occurs from sneezing and coughing. If we are sick, we must use a tissue paper always to prevent food contamination. We must keep the floors and walls of our kitchen clean. We should also spray an insecticide to keep rats and cockroaches away from our kitchen area. 

Prevent contamination of water

There are plenty of microorganisms that can contaminate water and spread germs. When a person drinks contaminated or polluted water, he is bound to fall sick. Diarrhea is one of the diseases that are caused due to contamination of water by pathogens like E.coli. Therefore, we must keep a water purifier in our home so that we don’t drink contaminated water. We should always wash our hands before having a meal. Good hygiene can prevent such diseases to a huge extent.

Personal hygiene

Apart from maintaining good domestic hygiene, we must also take care of our personal hygiene. The more we keep your body parts clean, we are less likely to be infected with diseases. We must take care of our skin and mouth because the human body provides the perfect place for parasites and pathogens to grow and multiply. If a person maintains his personal hygiene properly and regularly, parasites and germs cannot invade his body.

Apart from keeping our body clean, we must also keep our clothes clean. Wearing the sweat stained clothes can allow microorganisms to grow and multiply. 

Inadequate hygiene and sanitation

Inadequate hygiene and sanitation leads to transfer of harmful disease causing germs. Food poisoning, skin infections, gastroenteritis, pneumonia, diarrhea and trachoma are often caused by bacteria when we do not maintain proper hygiene and sanitation. Cold and flu are generally caused by viruses when our ambiance is not clean and healthy. Threadworm infection, roundworm infection and giardiasis are often caused by parasites when we survive in bad sanitary conditions. 

Especially the people living in rural areas must be educated to maintain proper hygiene and sanitation. So many children in India die every year due to diarrhea, food poisoning or pneumonia. If every person of India maintains good hygiene and sanitation in their homes, India would be free from plenty of life threatening diseases. The rural people must be encouraged to wash their hands with soap to prevent diseases from affecting them. Diseases are caused by germs, microorganisms and parasites which grow and multiply in untidy and dirty areas.  Proper hygiene and sanitation can control these diseases to a huge extent and can make India a clean and healthy nation.

You can join the Cleanathon sponsored by NDTV and Dettol India to create a #SwachhIndia”. You can get more details here: http://swachhindia.ndtv.com/

This post is for Indiblogger  for the #BanegaSwacchIndia contest.