They cannot wash their hands at home ... the ghost of Corona hangs over 3 billion people who lack soap and water

As strict measures intensify across the world to stem the outbreak of the new Corona virus, three billion people lack the simplest weapons to prevent, that is, water and soap, according to UN experts.

The Covid-19 epidemic that occurred in China at the end of 2019 has caused more than a quarter of a million people worldwide and more than 10,000 deaths.

Europe has become the new focus of the epidemic, closing its borders and isolating millions in their homes, but anxiety is increasing in developing countries whose health systems are fragile.

African and Asian leaders imposed travel restrictions and a quarantine to prevent an outbreak, but regular hand-washing, one of the simplest principles of prevention that scientists focus on, is not available to millions of people.

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) considers that 40% of the world's population, or three billion people, cannot wash their hands at home.

Sam Godfrey, UNICEF's Water Resources Officer, says that water is not available to some, they don't even have the money to buy soap, and they don't even realize the importance of these simple steps to prevent.

"It is difficult for even front-line workers and health professionals to understand the importance of hand-washing," he told AFP.

The first cases on the African continent were recorded by individuals who are able to travel abroad, and many Africans consider the epidemic a "disease of the wealthy, which of course will weigh on the poor as well."

The most threatening are residents of crowded shantytowns or refugee camps due to malnutrition, other health problems and the absence of adequate sanitation systems.

In sub-Saharan Africa, 63% of the urban population (258 million people) cannot wash their hands, according to UNICEF. The percentage is 22% (153 million) for Central and South Asia.

In Matare shantytown, near Nairobi, many do not see the threat seriously. "Not every patient in the hospital resides in the shantytown, it is the virus of the rich," Ismael Aiga, who fixes bicycles, told AFP.

Between Ebola and Coruna
The World Health Organization also expressed concern about the start of the epidemic in the poorest countries, which the rich countries are unable to contain.

This week, WHO Director-General Tidros Adhanum Gebriusos warned, "While the virus has started to spread in poor countries, we are very concerned about its effects on people with high rates of HIV infection or on malnourished children."

Sharon Levin of the Peter Doherty Institute on Inflammation and Immunology in Melbourne announced that the epidemic highlighted a "terrible disparity" between different health systems, adding, "We have not yet seen what Covid-19 can cause in some regions of Asia (Indonesia, India) and Africa."

At a time when European hospitals require respirators, African countries are searching for soap.

UNICEF distributes soap to millions of people, but obtaining new stocks has become difficult in countries dependent on imports from China.

And washing hands with water without soap is not enough to get rid of viruses or bacteria, but some African countries can benefit from their experience in fighting cholera or Ebola.

In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, residents have learned from the Ebola outbreak that handshake must be avoided, said Sam Godfrey. "The Ebola greeting has become the Corona greeting," he added.

Experts hope the epidemic will prompt governments to strengthen sanitation and raise awareness of the need to wash hands to save lives.

The hashtag # Hand Sanitizer of shantytowns has been widely circulated on Twitter in Kenya.

But Scholastica Atino of the shantytown of Matar said, "We do not need hand sanitizer and we are still alive even if it is not available." "We don't need it," he insisted.