How can cleanliness in the home prevent sicknesses

Since family members are in close contact with each other, it is very easy to spread germs and illness to the whole family.

A family will have less illness if they:

• wash cooking and eating pots and utensils with soap (or clean ash) and clean water after using them. If possible, let them dry in the sun (sunlight kills many germs that cause illness).
• clean the living space often. Sweep and wash the floors, walls, and beneath furniture. Fill in cracks and holes in the floor or walls where roaches, bedbugs, and scorpions can hide.
• hang or spread bedding in the sun to kill parasites and bugs.
• do not spit on the floor. When you cough or sneeze, cover your mouth with your arm, or with a cloth or handkerchief. Then, if possible, wash your hands.
• get rid of body wastes in a safe way. Teach children to use a latrine or to bury their stools, or at least to go far away from the house or from where people get drinking water. If children or animals pass stool near the house, clean it up at once.

Sources

• Burns, A. A., Niemann, S., Lovich, R., Maxwell, J., & Shapiro, K. (2014). Where women have no doctor: A health guide for women. Hesperian Foundation.
• Audiopedia ID: en010112