Sanitation Drives for Villages
Access to improved water and sanitation facilities does not, on its own, necessarily lead to improved health. There is now very clear evidence showing the importance of hygienic behavior, in particular hand-washing with soap at critical times: after defecating and before eating or preparing food. Hand-washing with soap can significantly reduce the incidence of diarrhea, which is the second leading cause of death amongst children under five years old. In fact, recent studies suggest that regular hand-washing with soap at critical times can reduce the number of diarrhea bouts by almost 50 per cent.
Good hand-washing practices have also been shown to reduce the incidence of other diseases, notably pneumonia, trachoma, scabies, skin and eye infections and diarrhea-related diseases like cholera and dysentery. The promotion of hand-washing with soap is also a key strategy for controlling the spread of Avian Influenza (bird flu).
The key to increasing the practice of hand-washing with soap is to promote behavioural change through motivation, information and education. There are a variety of ways to do these including high-profile national media campaigns, peer-to-peer education techniques, hygiene lessons for children in schools and the encouragement of children to demonstrate good hygiene to their families and communities. These are the ways in which MES manages to deal with the issue of health, sanitation and management in the villages.
Similarly, MES also arranges a village cleanliness drive each year in the nearby villages. We also arrange seminars on the same issue to develop awareness among the villagers.