Hygiene
Good hygiene is an important barrier to many infectious diseases, including the faecaloral diseases, and it promotes better health and well-being. To achieve the greatest health benefits, improvements in hygiene should be made concurrently with improvements in the water supply and sanitation, and be integrated with other interventions, such as improving nutrition and increasing incomes.
The installation of a safe, plentiful and easily accessible water supply combined with adequate sanitation in a rural community will have a positive health impact only if combined with hygiene education.
Hygiene education is crucial to increase the community's knowledge and awareness of the link between water, sanitation, hygiene and health. Hygiene education enables a behavioral change to ensure a lasting health and economic benefit from the improved water and sanitation facilities. Further hygiene education enhances appropriate utilisation, reduces recurrent cost of maintenance and improves the sustainability of the water and sanitation facilities.Seldom has any culture deeply and so consistently associated with animals and trees as that of Hinduism and Buddhism. Religious belief, mythology and folklore combined to invest them with a sanctity that was reiterated throughout the history and endures even today.
Percentage with High Household Hygiene Score
Percentage of respondents who wash hands 5+ times daily
Source: International hygiene study 2011
Rural Sanitation and Hygiene Strategy 2012-2022
Source: Govt. of India, Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation