A toddler washes his hands with his mother in a kitchen. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Korea said washing hands is the easiest and most effective way to prevent various infectious diseases. Gettyimagesbank



By Bahk Eun-ji



Hand hygiene is the most important and easiest method to prevent bacterial transfer and infection. The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC), in cooperation with the private sector, has launched a campaign to encourage people to establish hand-washing as a habit in an effort to curb the spread of potentially harmful germs.



"Washing hands is the easiest and most effective way to prevent various infectious diseases," Jeong Eun-kyung, chief of the KCDC, said in a statement.



According to the disease control center, a large percentage of foodborne diseases are spread by contaminated hands. In fact, hand-washing can prevent about 30 percent of diarrhea-related illnesses, and 20 percent of respiratory diseases as well, it said.



When and how to wash also matters for hand hygiene. It is important to wash hands before eating or handling food, before nursing the elderly, after using the bathroom, after changing a diaper, using public transportation or coughing and sneezing.



Hand hygiene is also especially important for people who have weak immune system.



Using soap, not just with water, is also strongly recommended. The World Health Organization (WHO) said using soap when washing hands can reduce acute respiratory infections by 16 percent to 23 percent, pneumonia by 50 percent and the risk of endemic diarrhea by up to 48 percent.



Infection-related infant deaths could be also reduced by 27 percent by improving hand-washing practices at healthcare facilities, and 40 percent during the postnatal period. Washing hands with soap also prevents other serious diseases such as Ebola, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), and hospital-acquired infections, the WHO said.



Washing hands with soap and water is the best way to reduce germs in most situations, but if soap and water are not available, using alcohol-based hand sanitizers is also recommended. Such sanitizers can reduce various germs on the hands quickly, but the KCDC said sanitizers do not eliminate all types of germs and might not remove harmful chemicals.



To promote the campaign more actively, the disease control center collaborate with various organizations including broadcasting companies and franchise coffee shops.



Local media outlet JTBC has been airing the importance of washing hands before cooking and eating through its popular TV shows. Major coffee shops such as Angel-in-us Coffee, Tom N Toms and A Twosome Place display posters that promote washing hands in their restrooms and on checkout counters.



The KCDC also distributed posters and similar stickers to 6,229 elementary schools in February to help the young students develop the habit.



Indoor playgrounds for children such as Pororo Park, Carrie Kids Cafe and Cocomong Kids Land, where children share toys, have also participated in the campaign by displaying the posters encouraging hand hygiene.



More than 9,300 banners and posters are displayed at bus stops in 32 cities nationwide, the KCDC said.

