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Busan Metropolitan City Selects Five “Exemplary Handwashing Practice Institutions” to Prevent Infectious Diseases Among Children

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Busan Metropolitan City Mayor Park Heong-joon announced that the city has selected five daycare centers as “Exemplary Handwashing Institutions” through the Exemplary Handwashing Practice Program, which was promoted this year to prevent infectious diseases during early childhood and spread a culture of handwashing practices.

This year’s program targeted kindergartens and daycare centers with 25 or more children aged 4–5, an age when the formation of daily habits becomes more established. A total of 25 institutions participated, including 9 kindergartens and 16 daycare centers.

The five exemplary institutions selected are Dongnae Raemian I-Park 2 Complex Daycare Center (Dongnae-gu), Public Guseo Daycare Center (Geumjeong-gu), Noksan Industrial Complex Bareun Daycare Center (Gangseo-gu), Busan Jungang Daycare Center (Suyeong-gu), and Manduk 1 Daycare Center (Buk-gu).

Busan Metropolitan City comprehensively assessed participating institutions through document reviews, a call for exemplary cases, and on-site evaluations, taking into account factors such as the handwashing environment, education implementation, and the level of practice.

Evaluations were conducted based on criteria including creating an environment conducive to handwashing, establishing education and training systems involving children, teachers, and families, efforts to improve handwashing compliance rates, and each institution’s differentiated educational approach and creative implementation strategies.

The selected exemplary institutions continuously operated handwashing education and daily practice activities tailored to the developmental level of young children for approximately 10 months, from March to December of this year. They focused on establishing handwashing as an everyday habit rather than a one-time lesson.

They clearly set key moments for handwashing in daily routines—such as after arriving at the center, after outdoor activities, before and after meals, and after using the restroom—and guided children to practice handwashing repeatedly as part of their daily schedule.

In particular, the institutions conducted play-based handwashing education using creative songs, movements, picture books, sticker charts, and original plays, encouraging children to recognize the importance of handwashing and practice it on their own. They also actively promoted handwashing practice activities linked with parents so that handwashing education could extend into the home.

Busan Metropolitan City presented “Exemplary Handwashing Practice Institution” plaques and the Mayor’s Awards to three of the exemplary institutions. The city plans to publish a collection of exemplary cases and expand the handwashing education model to daycare centers and kindergartens across the region.

On December 26, the city visited Dongnae Raemian I-Park 2 Complex Daycare Center (Dongnae-gu), Public Guseo Daycare Center (Geumjeong-gu), and Noksan Industrial Complex Bareun Daycare Center (Gangseo-gu) to hold the award ceremony for the exemplary institutions.

Meanwhile, the Exemplary Handwashing Practice Program supports lifelong handwashing habit formation by providing experience-based education for young children and improving handwashing environments.

Busan Metropolitan City promoted this program in order to shift away from a response-after-outbreak approach toward prevention-centered public health policies. By placing the starting point of infectious disease prevention on “habit formation,” the city seeks to encourage the everyday practice of handwashing.

Jo Gyu-yul, Director General of the Citizens’ Health Bureau, stated, “Handwashing is the most basic yet most effective means of preventing infectious diseases.” He added, “By making handwashing habits formed from early childhood the starting point for infectious disease prevention, we will systematically establish exemplary models so that a culture of hand hygiene practices can naturally take root throughout households and local communities.”