Hygiene vs Sanitation
Since a healthy man is a great wealth for this world, knowing the difference between sanitation and hygiene is important as these terms are linked with health. People cannot dream of healthiness without these two words, sanitation and hygiene. More dreadful diseases such as the recently overspread Ebola virus are adverse results of lack of sanitation and hygiene. Those diseases suddenly put an end to the world. In today’s world, people are afraid of diseases than they are afraid of ghosts. So they are concerned of diseases and preventable cures. The word sanitation mainly focuses on human urine, feces and safe disposal methods, while hygiene focuses on health and diseases. However, both hygiene and sanitation hope to create a world without diseases that is full of healthy human beings. To achieve that goal, people have to follow sanitation and hygiene as a day to day practice.
What does Sanitation mean?
According to the definition of world health organization, sanitation is disposal of human urine and feces using safe disposal methods and provision of adequate facilities and services for that. Most health organizations and governments have paid their attention to developing infrastructure facilities to improve sanitation all over the world. This is because there are several findings which have proved that lack of sanitation make a great impact on the global upturn. Sanitation practices should be started from household level. Following good sanitation practices is a lifelong solution for contaminations and dangerous diseases. Safe disposal of waste is the first. Man releases urine and feces into rivers and streams. Then rivers and streams are polluted with pathogenic microorganisms that pollute drinking water. Those pathogens enter the food that grows in soil. Polluted water is a wet ground for insects to spread diseases.
Usually, sanitation is better in areas where the density of people is low. In these areas, management of disposing of waste is good. Good sanitary practices should be introduced to the areas where the density of people is high. Such areas have more tendencies to spread diseases. Waste water can be reused or safely disposed of after removing or inactivating the pathogens.
What does Hygiene mean?
According to the definition of world health organization hygiene is related to health. Preserve health and prevent diseases are the major aspects of hygiene. Personal hygiene has become a famous topic in both private and public sectors. Good personal hygiene is a key to preventing the spread of diseases. Cultures make a large impact on personal hygiene. Washing clothes and bathing every day are good hygienic practices. It helps to prevent accumulation of pathogenic bacteria in the human body. Good hygienic practices contribute to prevent sexual and infectious diseases in the community. Maintaining good personal hygiene during the period of menstruation is more important to prevent diseases such as cystitis.
What is the difference between Sanitation and Hygiene?
Both sanitation and hygiene are crucial to prevent dangerous diseases and maintain a good health. Both aim cleanliness. When people are talking about hygiene “personal hygiene” is the most used phrase .
• Hygiene is mainly related to the human body. Maintaining a good personal hygiene is a precaution in preventing the spread of pathogenic microorganisms among people.
• Sanitation is mainly related to safe disposal of waste around human beings. So there are many kinds of sanitation.
- First one is safe disposal of human urine and feces.
- Food sanitation is also more important because food is an easier way for the pathogens to come into the community.
- Industrial sanitation highly affects the ecosystem and the bio-diversity.
- Many countries of the world have considered recycling and reusing of disposed wastes. It is very important to not only prevent diseases but also to improve economic development in the world.
In the time of our grandparents, science and technology was not well developed. Sources of getting information and knowledge about sanitation and hygiene were lack. However, they had a worshipful culture which educated that cleanliness is the first. They believed the cleanliness as a god. We try to preserve that cleanliness by promoting good hygienic and sanitary practices. Health is the wealth. Inadequate hygienic and sanitary practices adversely affect not only human beings, but also other species living on the earth. It is our duty to save all lives as a part of the environment. We have a responsibility to hand down this heritage to our future generation.
Images By: Kevin.B (CC BY-SA 2.5), Arlington County (CC BY-SA 2.0)