国家地理: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频率前所未见：勤用肥皂洗手才能预防疾病。他们的信息来源包括中央和州政府。也来自社交媒体上的宝莱坞明星和板球冠军，以及最有趣的是卡拉拉邦南部一支穿制服、戴口罩的警察小队，他们以整齐划一的队形随流行音乐起舞，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.

卡比尔表示，随着新型冠状病毒在全球肆虐，而且并没有让有钱有势的人幸免于难，印度农村的穷人更加感受到自己极度脆弱，所以比较能接受勤洗手的劝告。他说，肥皂现在是村里商店最热卖的商品之一，仅次于米和小麦面粉。

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，卡比尔就已经准备很多要说服民众买肥皂和洗手的理由了。2018年，全球有超过80万名五岁以下的儿童死于肺炎，其中就有12万7000名印度儿童。而通常由轮状病毒感染所引起的腹泻，则是导致超过50万名儿童死亡，其中就有10万名以上的印度儿童。用肥皂洗手是抵御这两种疾病的主要方法，同时也能抵抗霍乱、痢疾、A型肝炎以及伤寒。联合国儿童基金会表示，用肥皂洗手能让腹泻的风险降低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.

像卡比尔这样来自WASH的行动主义者，主要是希望对COVID-19的恐惧能促使民众勤洗手，并让这个习惯在大流行过后持续为许多发展中国家减少疾病负担。

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."

这“可能是这种疾病唯一的一线希望。”印度水援助组织首席执行官VK·马德赫凡说。“相较于几周前的状况，目前的变化以及社会大众觉醒的程度是很惊人的。”

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

但要实现这个愿景，需克服一个艰巨的挑战：那就是在印度这样的地方，干净的水并不够。