Personal Hygiene, Sanitation and Public Health
Personal Hygiene, Sanitation and Public Health tests everyday health practices, safe water, waste disposal, vector control and measures that stop communicable diseases. Questions often ask for a sequence of preventive steps.
Personal hygiene
Bathe daily, brush teeth twice a day, wash hands with soap after using the toilet and before eating, keep nails short, keep hair clean and wear footwear outdoors. Menstrual hygiene requires clean pads changed regularly and proper disposal. These practices reduce skin, oral and intestinal infections.
Sanitation and safe water
Use toilets and keep them clean; dispose of sewage through septic tanks or sewers; segregate biodegradable and non-biodegradable waste; compost kitchen waste. For safe drinking water, filter and then boil to a rolling boil, or chlorinate with the correct dose and contact time. Cover stored water and use a ladle rather than dipping hands.
Public health and disease control
Immunisation, isolation of infected persons, disinfection and health education protect communities. Cholera and typhoid spread through contaminated water and food; malaria and dengue spread through mosquitoes; tuberculosis spreads through air. Remove stagnant water, cover drains, use nets and screens, and ensure safe food handling.
Worked example
Question: A village reports several diarrhoea cases. What should be done? Reasoning: suspect contaminated water; test and chlorinate or boil the supply, promote handwashing, ensure safe excreta disposal, give oral rehydration solution for dehydration, and report the outbreak. Antibiotics are not the first community step.
Traps
Disinfection reduces pathogens but does not necessarily sterilise; boiling must reach a rolling boil; chlorination needs correct dose and contact time; ORS treats dehydration, not the infection itself.