HYGIENE – CAN A TOOL FROM OUR PAST HELP SAVE THE FUTURE?

Abstract

Infectious diseases will continue to disrupt modern societies if we do not establish better hygiene literacy to enable a systems approach to hygienical design and planning, wider population access to and uptake of practices, and a strategically better use of cleaning and hygiene as trusted methods to reduce infections. The article introduces the concept of hygiene literacy and outlines how this concept is linked to policies for public health, urban planning, education, research, data collection, and more. Further, it outlines how such a new strategy for Europe could help address infections and epidemics.