How often do you wash your towel? Some people wash once a week, while some, once a year. The towel is a fertile breeding ground for millions of microbes, especially those found on human skin and on the gut. No wonder the towel is one of the objects that facilitate fecal-oral contamination (literally connecting the two ends of the gut). Worse still, most people keep towels in the bathroom (near the toilet). Every flush of the toilet sends mist with millions of microbes, ranging from H.pylori, salmonella and other deadly bacteria and viruses. When you wash your hands ready for a meal, and dry them with your body towel, there's high chance you are directly ingesting your fecal matter, or, if in a shared lavatory, someone else's faeces. Unless cleaned well, viruses such as human papillomavirus (causes warts, anal cancer and cervical cancer) can be transmitted when towels are shared with infected individuals. So, what to do? 1. Launder towels once a week. 2. Use hot water and det...
Worldwide more than 1 trillion U.S. dollars are lost due to government corruption.
That’s according to the World Bank, which reports that corrupt governments discourage foreign investment and reduce opportunities for their citizens.
The report offers 10 ways to fight government corruption. While some are targeted to high-level officials, they can be adapted to smaller-scale situations. Which will you use?
1.Become informed. Read up on the many forms of corruption. It’s not just about bribes. Sometimes officials simply waste resources — that can diminish money that pays for government services for the poor.
2.Add the power of the people. Create pathways that give citizens tools to engage and participate in their governments.
3.Cut the red tape. Bring together formal (government) and informal (non-government) processes to change behavior and monitor progress.
4.Use the power of technology. Build dynamic exchanges among government officials, citizens, businesspeople, academics and members of the media and of civil society groups.
5.Deliver the goods. Invest in institutions and policy. Sustainable improvement in how a government delivers services is only possible if the people in these institutions endorse sensible rules and practices.
6.Get incentives right. Align anti-corruption measures with market, behavioral and social forces. Adopting integrity standards is a smart business decision.
7.Use sanctions. Punishing corruption is a vital component of any effective effort.
8.Act globally and locally. Keep citizens engaged on corruption at local, national, international and global levels — in line with the scale and scope of corruption.
9.Build capacity for those who need it most. Countries that suffer from chronic fragility, conflict and violence are often the ones that have the fewest internal resources to combat corruption.
10.Monitor and evaluate. Any good strategy must be continually evaluated to make sure it can be easily adapted as situations on the ground change. Keep track of lessons learned.
Source:https://yali.state.gov/boost-economy-end-corruption/
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