Poor hygiene standards in public spaces, overall worry for global health threats, knowledge gaps and taboos in discussions around health and hygiene – these are just some of the barriers to well-being identified in the Global Hygiene and Health Survey 2022 conducted by global hygiene and health company Essity. The findings are based on responses from more than 15,000 people world-wide with the aim to find healthier solutions for future generations.
The Global Hygiene and Health Survey 2022 focuses on the future of well-being as well as the knowledge gap around issues of hygiene and health. By comparing current behaviors and attitudes of people towards well-being with how they would like to live in the future, several gaps are identified in areas such as personal care, caregiving, health worries and sustainable consumption.
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“The world is evolving and changing in rapid speed. New pandemics and other global challenges affect our health and well-being. We have conducted this survey as we want progress for people’s well-being and raise awareness of the importance of hygiene and health and its link to well-being. Also, by looking at the future of well-being we aim to break barriers for well-being and find solutions for a healthier next generation,” says Joséphine Edwall Björklund, Senior Vice President, Communications at Essity.
One of the surveyed areas is public spaces. When it comes to hygiene standards in public spaces, only 1 in 4 say they feel comfortable about hygiene standards in public bathrooms and 3 in 10 in public transport. Out of these, seniors feel the most uncomfortable about hygiene standards in public spaces, especially in public washrooms as only 13% of people aged 66-80 years old claim to feel comfortable about hygiene standards in these venues. A majority also expressed higher expectations on the hygiene standards in public bathrooms after COVID-19. Furthermore, there are higher demands on the cleanliness, accessibility and smart solutions such as connected washroom devices.
Improving hygiene standards in public places may also have other positive effects. According to the study, 38% of the respondents say that improvement of hygiene standards in public spaces would make the biggest difference in helping to stop the spread of bacteria resistance to antibiotics. In fact, the worry about antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has increased since 2019 when 46% expressed concern. Today more than half of the respondents (54%) are concerned of AMR as a threat to public health where they live. This can be compared to pandemic outbreaks, which 63% are worried about, a slight decrease since 2020 (70%), but still higher than prior to the outbreak of Covid-19 when only 43% experienced this as threat to public health.