CALIBER, Nigeria, Jan. 25 (UPI) -- The simple act of hand washing could save lives, especially in developing countries, a Nigerian study suggests.
"It is difficult for people in developed countries to realize that diarrhea is still a major cause of deaths in developing countries, killing more children than AIDS and malaria combined," Dr. Olivier Fontaine of the World Health Organization said in a statement.
The review, published in The Cochrane Library, analyzed 14 studies that included eight studies in high-income countries that monitored 7,711 participants in institutions, five community-based studies in low- and middle-income countries with 8,055 participants and one study looking at the practices of 148 members of a high-risk group of AIDS patients
The review, led by Regina Ejemot of the University of Caliber in Nigeria, finds that interventions promoting hand-washing resulted in a 29 percent reduction in diarrhea episodes in high-income countries and a 31 percent reduction in such episodes in communities in low- and middle-income countries.
"Our review specifically assessed the effects of interventions to promote hand washing and not the effectiveness of improving sanitation," Ejemot said. "However, common sense would suggest that there has to be water for hand washing to happen, regardless of community awareness of benefits or willingness to wash hands."
