The 'Soap Stars' campaign, funded by Lothian Health, will encourage children to observe good hygiene through posters, leaflets, colouring books and baseball caps. 'Glo-germ boxes' containing material which will show up the dirt on children's hands will also be used by school nurses to reinforce the message.
The materials will be sent to maintained sector schools and nurseries only, but the messages are intended to reach private and voluntary provision as well.
Director of environmental and consumer services at Edinburgh City CouncilMike Drewry said, 'There is a need to communicate the message to children from an early age.' A paper prepared by the environmental health and consumer department for last week's Executive of the Council meeting stated, 'Poor hand washing increases the risk of infection being acquired and passed from person to person either directly or indirectly. Infections which can be passed on range from the common cold to potentially fatal infections such as E.Coli 157.'
The new standards were required, the paper continued, because current legislation dating back to 1967 does not sufficiently detail requirements for the provision of soap and drying facilities, or levels of 'supervision'
required of children.
The organisers of the campaign cite evidence from the US that handwashing can reduce both pupil and teacher absenteeism by reducing germ transmission. They say environmental health inspections have found variable standards in the provision of handwashing facilities in educational establishments.
However, some nurseries consider the campaign unnecessary. Liz Gallacher, spokesperson for the Lothian branch of the Scottish Independent Nurseries Association, said, 'In our case this would be teaching grannies to suck eggs. Our children are being told to wash their hands all day long, after eating, toileting and activities such as painting.
'We don't need special leaflets to encourage children to wash their hands.
We already focus on teaching good hygiene habits. Our staff also all take part in training in elementary hygiene.'
But Tom Bell, professional development director at the Royal Environmental Health Institute of Scotland, said, 'It needs to be stressed how thoroughly hands must be washed. It should include the backs of the hands, between the fingers and up to the wrist.'