HANDOUT V - 2 - C - Basic guidelines for personal and dental health

Personal Hygiene

1. Always wash your hands with soap when you get up in the morning, after having a bowel movement and before eating

2. bathe often -- very day when the weather is hot. Bathe after working hard or awaiting. Frequent bathing helps prevent skin infections, dandruff, pimples, itching and rashes. (Where water sources are limited, learn to conserve water Take frequent sponge baths. Be sure not to contaminate your safe water supply Pour the water you'll need into another container for use.)

3. In areas where hookworm is common, do not go barefoot. Hookworm infection causes severe anemia. These worms enter the body through the soles of the feat

4. Brush your teeth at least once a day and, if possible, after every meal. If brushing is not possible for some reason, rub your teeth with salt and baking soda. (Warner, 1977:230)

5. Ideally, being able to run a strong thread or dental floss between your gums and teeth is good. If This la not possible, toothpicks or sharpened sticks can be helpful

6. If children or animals have a bowel movement near your house, clean it Up as quickly as possible.

7. Hang or spread sheets and blankets in the sun often If there appear to be bedbugs, pour boiling water on the bad and v ah the sheets and blankets.

8. Beware of dogs and cats from outside Don't let them into your house. They can carry fleas and other insects which can cause disease.

9. Try to clean your house often Sweep ant wash the floors, walls and beneath furniture. Fill is cracks and holes where roaches, bedbugs and scorpions can hide

10. Ideally all water that coca not come from a pure water system should be boiled before drinking, especially This la especially important when there appear to be cases of typhoid, hepatitis, cholera or diarrhea. Water from holes or rivers, even when it looks clean, may spread disease if it la not boiled or disinfect before use

11. Try to store foods la insect- and rodent- proof containers to prevent contamination. Keep food covered.

12. The co on use of human faces for fertilizer makes it necessary to kill intestinal pathogens which may be on foods, such as fruits and vegetables disinfectant such as chlorine or iodine will kill these organisms

13. Use clean cooking utensils ant dishes. They should be washed with hot water ant soap, airdried in the sun if possible, and stored in a clean place. It is especially important to use hot water and soap when washing dishes used by a sick person so that germs will be killed and not passed on to healthy people.

14. Only eat meat that la well cooked. Be careful that roasted meat, especially pork, coca not have rev parts inside. Raw pork can carry the organisms responsible for the disease of trichinosis.

15. Be careful of food thee is old or smells bad. It may be poisonous. Don't eat canned foot if the can la swollen or squirts when opened. Be especially careful with canned fish.

16. Pay attention to your diet. Good nutrition helps protect the body against many infections.

17. If you smoke cigarettes, try to quit. Put your energy into something healthier and more constructive.

18. Try to get some kind of dally exercise like walking, doing calistenics, bicycle riding or other activities in which you use your heart and lunge.

Information from:

Werner, David. Where There is No Doctor.

Environmental Health Field Manual for Sanitarians. RSMD projects University of Hawaii, 1980.