Community Health Volunteer's Training Manual - Population Council

How to wash one’s hands
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There are simple but important steps to follow when washing your hands.
Wet hands with running water
Rub hands together with liquid soap or bar soap to lather well
Disease Prevention and Environmental Sanitation
Scrub all surfaces, including the inner and backs of the hand, the wrists, between the
fingers, and under your fingernails
Rinse well under clean running water until all soap is gone
Dry hands with clean towel or allow hands to dry in the air
In general, the combination of scrubbing your hands with soap and rinsing them with water
loosens and removes bacteria from your hands. Since children need clean hands too, insist
that your children wash their hands properly and frequently. To get children into the habit,
teach by example. Wash your hands with your children and supervise their hand washing.
Step 1: Wet your hands
Figure 4.2.2. Steps in hand washing
Step 2: Rub your hands
together with soap to lather
and scrub all surfaces
Step 3:Rinse under running water
In many of our communities where running water is not available, there are other ways of
ensuring proper hand washing. You can make a container like the one in Figure 4.2.3 called a
“Veronica Bucket”. A Veronica Bucket is fitted with a tap and can be placed in your home, at
school or at the health facility and filled with water. In the absence of a Veronica Bucket, you
can simply ask someone to pour water for you to wash your hands.
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