World Hand-Washing Day Kicks Off in Japan
2009-10-16 8:9
The H1N1 flu has been taken very seriously and the United Nations has created a program to advocate basic anti-flu hygiene.
On October 15, kindergarten students in Tokyo marked the United Nations' World Hand-Washing Day with a dance routine meant to teach others the proper way to wash their hands.
Over 50 children at a kindergarten school wiggled their hips, sang and waved their hands in the air while making soap foam to clean their hands.
Many children were already aware of the H1N1 flu virus.
[Moemi Tenma, Kindergarten Student]:
"I've been washing my hands to protect myself from the flu!"
Others were inspired to wash their hands everyday.
[Hidekazu Otsuka, Kindergarten Student]:
"I'll never forget to wash my hands from now on!"
The dance routines were designed to cover all hand parts
— including the palms, fingers, nails and wrists
— aiming to make young children more aware of the details.
[Ayako Uragami, Information and Public Affairs, Japan Committee for UNICEF]:
"In general, we need at least 20 seconds to wash our hands thoroughly, which sounds like a long time for little children. We came up with this universal hand-washing dance so that children can have fun and be motivated to wash their hands instead of thinking it's boring and tiresome."
Kindergartens across Tokyo have been making basic efforts to protect their children from the swine flu.
[Hidemi Kimura, Principal, Takanawa Kindergarten]:
"Many people have been infected with the swine flu in Tokyo so every kindergarten is being careful, making sure that the children wash hands and gargle on a daily basis. We also ask children to get enough sleep, wake up early and eat well to maintain a healthy life."
Various activities are held across over 80 countries on the U.N. World Hand-Washing Day. In Japan, kindergartens across five cities enjoyed the foamy dance routines.
The WHO declared the current outbreak of H1N1 a pandemic in June. Over 340,000 people have already been infected with the H1N1 virus worldwide, and the disease is responsible for at least 4,100 deaths.
