Why don’t we all wash our hands after we work in the garden? We might come closer to the truth if we asked why some of us actually do it. In the latter case, our answer if we were honest might be ‘because my mother told me to’. Does this mean washing hands is a cultural ritual? With Covid-19 all around us, it’s important to understand why some of us do not wash our hands.
Why So Many of Us Do Not Wash Our Hands
Robert Aunger is an expert in evolutionary public health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Apparently the British are not doing particularly well in that regard. Robert told Zariah Corvett of BBC Future a mere 26.2% of her contemporaries wash hands after using the bathroom. Why is this so?
We could counter by saying only 27% of the world population has access to adequate washing facilities. However, that debate evaporates when we learn 50% of people in high income nations don’t wash hands after doing their business either. If so many of our global compatriots ignore this fundamental, what chance is there of stopping Covid-19?
We Would Have to Change Some Fundamental Assumptions
Zariah Corvett advances two reasons why some of us do not wash our hands. We are lax about doing so, she says this because Western public hygiene standards are high and most times we get away with it. We also have what she calls ‘optimism bias’. This convinces us other people are more likely to have a problem than us.
Social norms also influence our thinking, perhaps even more than mother ever did. Apparently women are more likely to wash hands after using the loo than men. We already know men are more likely to die from Covid-19 than women. Perhaps it’s time to revisit our gender values. We might have to, if we want to survive.
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Preview Image: Washing Hands with Soap and Water
