Good hygiene is about breaking the chain of infection. A newly released YouTube clip shows you the basics of why – and when – and how to break the chain of infection.
In a policy paper published in June, the Royal Society for Public Health called for a clean-up of public attitudes to hygiene, and an end to the myth being too clean is bad for our health. The paper shows how this concept, which misrepresents our changing relationship with our microbial world, is undermining public confidence in hygiene at a time when hygiene is becoming more important, not least in the fight against antibiotic resistance, where hygiene is vital to reduce the need for antibiotic prescribing.
The RSPH paper issued a call to action for the adoption of “Targeted Hygiene” as the most effective way of breaking the chain of infection and the basis for developing clear consistent messages which make sense to the public. Targeted hygiene means acting at the times (when handling food, using the toilet etc) and in the places (hands, hand and food contact surfaces etc) that matter to prevent spread of harmful germs
IFH was encouraged that the media picked up on the key messages of the RSPH policy paper generating articles (some better than others!) in The Guardian, Daily Mail, Sun, Independent and BBC News
The challenge now is to follow up on this and find informative, simple and appealing ways to communicate the messages to the public. Taking up this challenge, RSPH have developed an interactive tool on instagram to illustrate the key times (or moments) when hygiene is important. Most recently Admaster with the support of Dr Lisa Ackerley have produced a straight-talking U-tube clip which brings targeted hygiene to life in a practical way.
Help us get the messages out and dispel the myths about hygiene!
