Way back in 1909 a doctor from Brooklyn, Robert Eccles, called for a public campaign of handwashing.

Over a hundred years later, the advice of Dr. Eccles might be the best we have for stopping the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

Dr. Eccles was very passionate about washing hands to prevent the spread of disease. The first step in his handwashing campaign was to educate the public. Dr. Eccles knew that handwashing would save lives.

He wrote about it in the Dietetic and Hygienic Gazette. Everything that you touch has germs on it, Dr. Eccles wrote. Luckily, most will be harmless. But some are harmful. If you touch your eyes or mouth without washing your hands you could be unknowingly transferring a disease to yourself. Washing your hands can stop germs that cause disease.

Dr. Eccles wanted magazines to spread information about handwashing to the public. The Christian Advocate wrote “so earnest is he that the gospel of clean hands should be spread far and wide, that he advises the editors of popular magazines to inaugurate a campaign against dirty hands, in order that the bearing of the matter with respect to public health should be brought home to the largest possible audience.”

The New York Press wrote “Therefore says Dr. Eccles, wash your hands as often as opportunity offers….washing them after handling some dangerously infected object may save your own or some one else’s life.”

Each one of us has a defense against coronavirus when it comes to handwashing. According to the World Health Organization the main symptoms of the coronavirus are fever, tiredness, and dry cough. Most people (around 80%) recover from the disease without needing special treatment. The most serious cases lead to difficulty breathing.

Handwashing can help prevent coronavirus and other diseases. An excellent resource is the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) page titled “Clean Hands Save Lives.”

The CDC emphasizes that “Handwashing can help prevent illness. It involves five simple and effective steps (Wet, Lather, Scrub, Rinse, Dry) you can take to reduce the spread of diarrheal and respiratory illness so you can stay healthy.”

The CDC exclaims “Handwashing is a win for everyone, except the germs.” If soap and water are not available the CDC says you “can use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol.”

A handwashing campaign is something every one of us can implement at home, at work or at school. You can make sure soap and hand washing facilities are available to everyone. It’s important to post reminders because during a busy day it might be easy for someone to forget to wash their hands. Reminders can help everyone wash their hands, especially before eating.

Also think of nutrition. A good diet with healthy foods like fruits and vegetables can help your immune system. Nutrition is an important part of a healthy lifestyle, especially to deal with the stress of the coronavirus.

Help others. The charity Save the Children sent 36,000 face masks to hospitals in Wuhan, China to help them cope with the coronavirus outbreak. They are also seeing children in war-torn Yemen suffer from hunger and diseases like Dengue Fever. We must not forget the suffering in other countries both from malnutrition and disease. The World Food Program’s efforts all over the world save lives through nutrition, which stops hunger and can prevent the spread of disease.

When you donate to foodbanks you can also include soap. Foodbanks accept non-food items like soap to include with their grocery distributions to the needy. Little actions like these can help prevent the spread of disease in a community.

The arrival of the coronavirus is frightening. But it should not make you feel powerless. You can be part of the hand washing campaign, keep your distance from people sneezing or coughing and take care of yourself.

The more we do to prevent the spread of coronavirus, the more it helps health care workers treat existing cases.

Dr. Eccles would be proud to see a handwashing campaign take place more than 100 years after he made the simple, but so vital proposal.

William Lambers is an author who partnered with the UN World Food Program and Catholic Relief Services on the book “Ending World Hunger.” His writings have been published by USA Today, History News Network, the Baltimore Sun, the Hill and many other media outlets.

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