BBC Learnings · Section 8

The importance of handwashing

I've got a puzzle for you, Neil. Ready?

Level: B2 · 92 sentences

Transcript

  1. I've got a puzzle for you, Neil.
  2. Ready?
  3. Sure.
  4. OK.
  5. It's a riddle.
  6. I'm as light as a feather,
  7. but no one can hold me for very long.
  8. What am I?
  9. As light as a feather, but no one can hold you?
  10. No idea.
  11. What are you?
  12. Your breath.
  13. Ah, yes, I see.
  14. OK then, I've got one for you.
  15. I'm so big I'm everywhere, but so small you can't see me.
  16. What am I?
  17. You're everywhere, but I can't see you?
  18. Tricky.
  19. I give up.
  20. Well, the answer is germs.
  21. And with the outbreak of coronavirus,
  22. people around the world have rediscovered the importance of fighting germs to stop the spread of disease.
  23. In this programme, we'll be discussing the importance of hand washing in the prevention of germs and viruses.
  24. And we'll start off by meeting the first person to realise
  25. that keeping hands clean can really help prevent diseases being passed on.
  26. Ah, do you mean the 19th century Hungarian doctor Ignaz Semmelweis?
  27. He was known as the saviour of mothers for keeping maternity wards germ-free and he had a very interesting life.
  28. but do you know what happened to him in the end?
  29. That's my quiz question.
  30. Was it a he won the Nobel Prize,
  31. b he ended up in a hospital for mentally ill people,
  32. or c he started the first company to produce hand soap?
  33. Dr Semmelweis sounds like a scientific hero,
  34. so I'll say a he won the Nobel Prize.
  35. OK.
  36. We'll find out later if you were right.
  37. But what's for sure is that Ignaz Semmelweis was a hero to Val Curtis.
  38. a director at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
  39. Here she is talking to BBC Radio 4's Science Stories.
  40. Samuel Weiss is kind of my patron saint.
  41. Handwashing has been my life for the last 30 years,
  42. working on trying to improve hygiene, mostly in developing countries.
  43. And he was really the first to identify the importance of keeping
  44. hands clean in the prevention of transmission of infection.
  45. since the beginning of my career working in public health,
  46. I've been trying to understand how diseases get spread and what the best way of preventing it is.
  47. And hand washing jumped out as being the most important means of preventing infections, particularly in developing countries.
  48. Val's work is all about improving hygiene practices for maintaining health and preventing disease, especially through cleanliness.
  49. And she was clearly influenced by the work of Dr Semmelweis.
  50. because she calls him her patron saint,
  51. a kind of guide and protector,
  52. believed to give special help or inspiration.
  53. But Dr Semmelweis is also a good example of science communication.
  54. Getting the message out so people understand the importance of hygiene is difficult.
  55. And Wash Your Hands jumped out or made a strong impact as a simple message to communicate.
  56. Here's Val again.
  57. It wasn't until we wrote a paper in 2003 that showed
  58. the evidence that hand washing could save a million lives,
  59. that actually people started to take it seriously and hand washing became a big important issue internationally.
  60. So for me, the lesson from Samuel Weiss is don't scream and shout and accuse people of doing things wrongly,
  61. but patiently get the data out there and tell your story in a positive way.
  62. The idea that hand washing is an essential part of hygiene is supported by scientific evidence.
  63. the facts and information used to show that a belief is true in this case,
  64. Val's belief that hand washing could help save a million lives.
  65. So, hand washing has become an important global issue or topic of discussion,
  66. especially in places without access to clean sanitation and toilets.
  67. Val also mentions that if you want people to listen to your message,
  68. it's better to present the evidence in a positive,
  69. scientific way instead of screaming and shouting.
  70. speaking in a forceful or even angry way to convince people you're right.
  71. Right.
  72. People don't listen if you scream and shout at them.
  73. They just think you're strange.
  74. Which brings me back to today's quiz question.
  75. Remember I asked you what happened to Dr Semmelweis in the end?
  76. And I said a he won the Nobel Prize.
  77. Well, I'm afraid the answer was b he actually ended up in a hospital for mentally ill people.
  78. Today we've been talking about handwashing one of the single best ways
  79. to improve personal hygiene the prevention of disease by keeping clean.
  80. Recently, handwashing has become a top global issue a subject or topic people are thinking and talking about.
  81. Scientific evidence the facts and information used to prove ideas true or valid
  82. shows that handwashing jumped out or was easily noticed.
  83. as one of the most important methods to stop the spread of infection.
  84. The work of 19th century scientist Ignaz Semmelweis was so inspiring
  85. that even today some doctors consider him the patron saint of hygiene
  86. an expression referring to a protecting or guiding saint believed to give special help or inspiration.
  87. But communicating the message of wash your hands to people around the world is hard,
  88. especially if you just scream and shout.
  89. or try to convince someone by talking to them in a forceful or argumentative way.
  90. OK, Neil.
  91. The scientific evidence has convinced me.
  92. I promise to make sure I regularly wash my hands.