Hygiene is a right so often confused with a privilege. This concept that good hygiene is a product of time and care largely disregards the privilege of safe water, good hygiene products, and environmental security. 

Hygiene affects health, health affects the quality of life. Quality of life is essential to leading a healthy, happy life. We at Business Connect strongly believe that hygiene is a right. We believe that this right protects individuals and aids in community prosperity. Globally, a right to effective and consistent access should be a standard to improve the quality and longevity of life.  

 The global hygiene inequality spawns from a variety of ill-addressed issues, which in turn puts communities and individuals at risk. This inequality is a product of continued issues in pollution, economic failures, and miseducation; yet, this problem is consistently forgotten. Around the world, individuals are left without access. 

The percentage of people who are at risk, who lack access to consistent and reliable hygiene, may be larger than originally thought. At around 25% of the Earth’s population, this issue isn’t simply local, but global. Over 2 billion people around the globe lack access to hygiene products. 

A barrier preventing access is partially constructed by miseducation and a lack of education. Not only are there not healthy, sustainable means of obtaining good hygiene but there is a greater misunderstanding of how to be and stay hygienic. This miseducation reaches every corner of the globe. So, what is hygiene?

Know It All: What is Hygiene

Hygiene is behaviors and habits that aid in promoting cleanliness and health. These are habits like hand washing, brushing teeth, bathing, wearing clean clothes, etc. Hygienic behaviors are not one-and-done care, but rather acts that need to be regular habits. 

Hygiene encompasses more than one idea of cleanliness and care. There are a variety of different types of hygiene, including: 

• Dental hygiene (also called teeth hygiene)
• Hand hygiene 
• Nail hygiene
• Hair hygiene
• Ear and nose hygiene

The idea of personal hygiene even goes beyond that of caring for the individual’s physical body. There are surrounding factors that play into someone’s hygiene outside of their anatomy. 

• Environmental hygiene
• Clothing hygiene
• Food hygiene

The importance of hygiene is crucial to maintaining health. When communities are stripped of this right, their people suffer. 

Hygiene Inequality: What it Looks Like and the Reasons Why 

• What is bad hygiene?

Bad hygiene is the lack of care for one’s personal cleanliness and the wellness of their surroundings. Bad hygiene can encourage disease, illness, or even lice. 

• What does it look like?

Hygiene inequality looks in two parts: environmental means of obtaining hygiene and access to hygienic products. 

The environment plays a large role in hygiene, whether it’s access to clean water, access to safe food, or access to consistent and secure safety from environmental dangers. Having access to shelters, purified water, and food greatly improves an individual’s hygiene. 

Additionally, access to hygienic products is essential to creating healthy living. Hygiene products include soap, toothpaste, hair combs, deodorant, hand sanitizer, toothbrushes, toilet paper, etc. 

• Why does this happen?

Globally, hygiene is not seen as a right. Products cost money and living in areas that provide clean water is not always an option for individuals who seek out hygienic care. 

Pattern of Inequality: A Continued Problem

The lack of equality in hygiene on a global stage is not a new issue. As this pattern continues, and individuals are left without access to care, it’s important to recognize why this issue carries on. 

There are factors that play into this continued pattern that are unpreventable. Natural disasters, for example, cause both  disruption in life but also in the environment. Natural disasters greatly affect an individual’s livelihood and quality of life; they can also create new barriers in access to care. 

Additionally, pollution is a huge factor in this development of inequality. Pollution is a consistent and continuous problem, one that only grows as our population does. Polluted water, polluted air, and polluted grounds make for a naturally unhygienic environment. These heavily affected areas can mean that even with hygienic care products, good hygiene is still far from communities. 

Pioneering Impactful Change: An End to Global Hygiene Inequality

Seeking out change to this issue is essential to protecting lives. Individuals if continued to be left without access to hygiene products or hygienic means are left to unhealthy and dangerous conditions. 

Business Connect has been working against this issue for years. In both our call to purify water and provide good hygiene products to those in need, Business Connect has been aiding the efforts to not only fight against these issues but also provide meaningful and impactful change. 

Business Connect For Hygiene tackles education, product accessibility, and even consultation when it comes to providing hygienic care for all. These services are founded on Business Connect’s deeply held principle that hygiene is a fundamental right.   To understand the heart of Business Connect’s work in changing the landscape of hygiene access, read more about Business Connect For Hygiene.