國家地理:新冠病毒和洗手文化(2)

This year, Indians have been getting the message as never before: Frequent handwashing with soap prevents disease. They've been getting it from their national and state governments. They've been getting it on social media, from Bollywood stars and from cricket champions and, most entertainingly, from a squad of uniformed, face mask–wearing policemen in the southern state of Kerala, who danced in synchronous formation to a popular tune while demonstrating proper handwashing technique.

今年，印度人收到以下信息的頻率前所未見：勤用肥皂洗手才能預防疾病。他們的信息來源包括中央和州政府。也來自社交媒體上的寶萊塢明星和板球冠軍，以及最有趣的是卡拉拉邦南部一支穿制服、戴口罩的警察小隊，他們以整齊劃一的隊形隨流行音樂起舞，示范洗手技巧。

As the coronavirus has torn through the world, not sparing the rich and the powerful, India's rural poor have felt their own acute vulnerability, Kabir says, and that has made them more open to the message. Soap, he says, is now one of the top items sold in village shops, right behind rice and wheat flour.

卡比爾表示，隨著新型冠狀病毒在全球肆虐，而且并沒有讓有錢有勢的人幸免于難，印度農(nóng)村的窮人更加感受到自己極度脆弱，所以比較能接受勤洗手的勸告。他說，肥皂現(xiàn)在是村里商店最熱賣的商品之一，僅次于米和小麥面粉。

Even before COVID-19, Kabir had a long list of arguments for soap buying and handwashing. Worldwide in 2018, pneumonia killed more than 800,000 children under the age of five, including 127,000 in India. Diarrhea, usually caused by rotavirus infection, killed more than 500,000 children, including more than 100,000 Indians. Handwashing with soap is a first defense against both diseases, as it is against cholera, dysentery, hepatitis A, and typhoid. It can cut the risk of diarrhea by 40 percent, UNICEF says.

早在新冠病毒大流行之前，卡比爾就已經(jīng)準備很多要說服民眾買肥皂和洗手的理由了。2018年，全球有超過80萬名五歲以下的兒童死于肺炎，其中就有12萬7000名印度兒童。而通常由輪狀病毒感染所引起的腹瀉，則是導致超過50萬名兒童死亡，其中就有10萬名以上的印度兒童。用肥皂洗手是抵御這兩種疾病的主要方法，同時也能抵抗霍亂、痢疾、A型肝炎以及傷寒。聯(lián)合國兒童基金會表示，用肥皂洗手能讓腹瀉的風險降低40%。

The great hope of WASH activists like Kabir is that the fear of COVID-19 will inspire a surge in handwashing that, in a post-pandemic world, will lead to a lasting reduction in the disease burden of many developing countries.

像卡比爾這樣來自WASH的行動主義者，主要是希望對COVID-19的恐懼能促使民眾勤洗手，并讓這個習慣在大流行過后持續(xù)為許多發(fā)展中國家減少疾病負擔。

This is "probably the only silver lining of the disease," says VK Madhavan, CEO of WaterAid India. "The change and awareness about it now, as compared to a few weeks back, is phenomenal."

這“可能是這種疾病唯一的一線希望?！庇《人M織首席執(zhí)行官VK·馬德赫凡說?！跋噍^于幾周前的狀況，目前的變化以及社會大眾覺醒的程度是很驚人的。”

But there's a daunting obstacle to realizing that hopeful vision: In places like India, there's just not enough clean water.

但要實現(xiàn)這個愿景，需克服一個艱巨的挑戰(zhàn)：那就是在印度這樣的地方，干凈的水并不夠。