When I was a child I thought ‘hygiene’ meant washing your hands before eating and after going to the toilet, but it’s much more than that. The dictionary defines hygiene as ‘the science of preserving health’. Today we have a better chance than ever before of preserving our health through national, community and personal efforts.
Public health
Commonwealth, State and local government health authorities put great effort into ensuring that every Australian has the chance to preserve health. The National Health and Medical Research Council, through its committees of experts, advises governments on health policy.
Government measures that help to place us among the world’s healthiest nations include:
• provision of safe water supplies to all communities
• free health education about healthy lifestyle and home safety
• public health precautions and education campaigns to prevent the spread of epidemics
• strict controls on the production and handling of all food sold
• control of industrial processes to ensure safety in the workplace and to avoid industrial pollution
• the national immunisation programme
• provision of baby health centres
• screening of school children for vision, hearing and other health defects
• social services that ensure everyone receives enough money to buy food and no one goes without essential health services because they can’t afford them
• the Australian Drug Advisory Committee ensures that all medicines and medical devices approved for sale are safe and effective
• professional registration of orthodox health personnel is controlled, so that only properly trained and qualified people can provide services
• funding of research aimed at preserving or improving our health
• legislation and education campaigns aimed at preventing road accidents.
Our public health services are as good as any in the world, yet one still hears Australians complaining about them!
Personal hygiene
Efforts we can all make to preserve our health include:
• eating a nutritious diet
• getting enough exercise, recreation and rest to maintain a healthy body and mind
• taking steps to avoid infection
• looking after our teeth
• keeping our bodies clean
• avoiding sun damage to skin
• avoiding behaviour that risks health.
Women are largely responsible for family health: the purchase and preparation of food; keeping family immunisations up to date; health education and setting an example for their children; taking steps to prevent accidents in the home.
Avoiding infection
Infectious diseases used to be the cause of most premature deaths and much chronic ill-health. Nowadays, thanks to immunisation and the use of antibiotics to cure bacterial, parasitic and fungal infections, much suffering is prevented. But infections still occur, and we have as yet no cure for viral diseases (though immunisation can prevent some of the most severe, such as poliomyelitis).
We can do much to protect ourselves against infections by simple hygiene:
• avoiding contact with other people’s body fluids, secretions and discharges
• protecting ourselves against other species that carry disease, such as mosquitos, ticks, fleas and flies
• washing our hands before preparing or eating food and after going to the toilet
• preparing and storing food to minimise the risk of food poisoning (if you’re unsure about this, pamphlets are available free from all State health departments)
• paying careful attention to public-health education about infections, especially during epidemics
• taking all recommended precautions when we are caring for or otherwise in contact with people who have infections
• treating wounds promptly with antiseptic.
Looking after your teeth
Dentists are largely responsible for the increased fife span that we can now all
expect: they are the unsung heroes. As any farmer will tell you, when domestic animals get older and their teeth start to wear out, they can no longer chew their food properly and become malnourished so that they succumb to infection or just fade away. Until the advent of modem dentistry, the same happened to many humans.
These days dentists can ensure that we’re able to chew our food throughout our lives. Look after your teeth and gums: they’re precious. See your dentist regularly; make sure that you know how to brush your teeth so that you don’t injure your gums or wear away your dental enamel. There’s a poster showing the right way to brush in every dentist’s surgery.
Taking health risks
Just about anything we do can be risky, but some behaviours are much more risky than others. Public-health educators have done such a good job that it seems hardly necessary to mention that careless driving and driving with an alcohol blood level over the limit (or being a passenger with a careless or drunken driver), alcohol and drug abuse, smoking and imprudent sexual behaviour are risks that you can choose not to take.
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