By Adnan Rafique
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Islamic Medical Association (PIMA) on Friday arranged training sessions in Madaris in connection with the Global Handwashing Day. Students and teachers of Madaris were taught about hand hygiene practices on the occasion.
These sessions were held in different cities including Rawalpindi, Islamabad, Lahore, Faisalabad, Karachi, Sukkur, Ghotki, Khairpur, Peshawar, Swat, Bhimber, and Mirpur Khas. Students were also given free soap by Helping Hands for Relief and Development (HHRD).
The doctors briefed the participants about the importance of handwashing in the light of the Qur’an and Hadith and urged them to make handwashing a habit as it is an easy way to prevent many deadly diseases. Medical experts added that diarrhea is the leading cause of death in Pakistan as it killed more than 250,000 children every year. The message of handwashing in the existing situation becomes a message for survival in the country, experts added.
Health experts advised that people should make it a habit to wash their hands for at least 20 seconds and encourage the children to do the same as well, especially after using the toilet, before handling, preparing, serving, or eating food, when the hands are visibly soiled and after coughing or sneezing into the hands.
They concluded that the most commonly neglected areas missed in handwashing are the tips of the fingers, the palm of the hands and thumbs, which must be cleaned.
