Mumbai students set new 'world record' 
Vashi (Navi Mumbai), June 26 : Thousands of school kids in Navi Mumbai recently created a new Guinness World Records for 'the highest number of people sanitizing their hands simultaneously at a single venue'.
This mass awareness campaign entitled; 'Clean Hands To Save Life', is a six step of hand wash crusade organised by Fortis Foundation in association with the Navi Mumbai District Lions International, Fortis Hiranandani Hospital, Vashi, Navi Mumbai Association of Paediatrics and Indian Association of Occupational Health, Thane and Raigad branch.
The feat was a result of a combined effort by students, teachers, community leaders from diverse social backgrounds and strata to come together to highlight the need and consequence of hand hygiene in maintaining good all-round health.
A Guinness World Record was set at Centre One Mall, Vashi in Navi Mumbai on Friday by 3039 participants, including 2848 kids from 19 schools who accounted for the dominant count.
The event was witnessed by B B Nayak, a multiple holder of Guinness World Records, music maestro Shankar Mahadevan and Guinness World Records India representative Nikhil Shukla.
Shukla, who was also the adjudicator for the record feat, said: "The record breaking event falls under the category of simultaneous mass participation. The new record had 3039 participants and was accomplished in 53.76 seconds by the Fortis team."
Incidentally, the previous record was set by a group of 2,258 participants at San Diego, California in the USA on September 28 last year.
Ashish Bhatia, Chief Operating Officer (COO), Fortis Healthcare, said: "Our parents taught us how to brush our teeth and massage our gums, we do it today too. However, seldom few parents taught us to brush teeth before going to sleep! Many of us as adults hence don't brush teeth before going to bed."
Dr Subash Rao, Secretary, Navi Mumbai Association of Paediatrics said, "Our association with this campaign is primarily driven out of the increased need to educate parents on prevention of highly contagious diseases like typhoid, diarrhea, hepatitis A, and upper respiratory tract diseases."
"These diseases have seen a rapid rise over the last few years because of urban population's direct negligence to hand hygiene.
"According to India's public health association statistics only 30 percent of Indian populations wash their hands before preparing food, 38 percent wash their hands before eating and just over 53 percent of the country's populations wash their hands after defecating," said Rao.