国家地理:新冠病毒和洗手文化(5)

Worldwide, some three billion people -- 40 percent of the global population -- lack basic facilities to wash their hands with soap and water at home, according to a report released last year by the World Health Organization and UNICEF. Most are in either South Asia or sub-Saharan Africa.

根据世界卫生组织和联合国儿童基金会去年发表的一份报告，全球大约有30亿人（占全球人口的40%）家中没有可以用水和肥皂洗手的基本设施。这些人口大多分布在南亚或非洲撒哈拉沙漠以南地区。

"It's not that people do not like the idea of handwashing," says Kenya-based indigenous rights activist Ikal Ang'elei, echoing what Singh told me. "It's like this: Do you make your child wash his hands after he comes back from school, or do you save the water for cooking?"

肯尼亚土著人权活动家伊卡尔·昂莱伊呼应了辛格对我所说的话：“这并不是说人们不喜欢洗手。打个比方：你是选择让你的孩子放学后洗手，还是选择为了做饭而节约用水？”

In India, the Modi government announced plans last year to provide every household with 55 liters of water a day by 2024. The goal is hugely ambitious -- and still far from equal to both the need and the opportunity that will exist in a post-COVID-19 world.

印度的莫迪政府去年宣布，计划在2024年前供应每户家庭每天55公升的水。这是个雄心勃勃的目标，但仍远不及COVID-19流行过后的用水需求及机遇。

"The awareness about sanitation and handwashing will be at its peak now," says Kelly Ann Naylor, global WASH chief at UNICEF. "But it will have to be taken forward by governments."

“民众对于卫生和洗手的重视程度就快要达到颠峰了，”联合国儿童基金会WASH部门全球负责人凯莉·安·奈勒说：“但它必须由政府加以推动。”