The tippy tap: a vital tool to stop disease spreading
How can a rope, a recycled water jug and four wooden poles help to fight debilitating neglected tropical diseases such as trachoma?
They are all used to make a tippy tap: a home-made device enabling people to wash their hands and faces in areas where there’s no running water.
In many poorer countries, a lack of clean water and basic sanitation can cause infectious diseases such as trachoma to spread more easily. If an infected person touches their eyes or nose and doesn’t wash their hands, they can easily pass on the bacteria to others.
The tippy tap is invaluable because it’s simple to build and it enables people to keep their hands and faces clean, which dramatically reduces the risk of infection.
As part of the SAFE strategy to fight these diseases, Sightsavers is helping people to build tippy taps outside their homes, near farms, and in schools to make sure they can wash their hands and faces after using the toilet or handling animals. This work is made possible through funding from organisations such as UK aid and the Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust.
What is trachoma?
This bacterial infection is spread through contact with infected flies and via poor hygiene. If it's not treated, it causes the eyelashes to turn inwards, scraping the eyeball and eventually causing blindness.
What is trachoma?How does a tippy tap work?
1. Assemble the parts
A tippy tap is made from a container of water suspended from a wooden frame. A rope is attached to the container, then connected to a stick on the ground.
2. Press the lever
Pushing on the stick with your foot causes the container to tip up, releasing water without you having to touch the container and get your hands dirty.
3. Don’t forget the soap
Soap is attached to the tippy tap with rope: this encourages good hygiene and ensures the soap is only touched when washing, so it never touches the ground.
The tippy tap in action
“They told us how important it was to wash our hands with soap,” explains Kebby's aunt Rondah. “Because of this, we built a tippy tap and new toilet.”
More stories from Focus
Saving sight in Senegal during the COVID-19 pandemic
Without eye surgeon Babacar's efforts, people could have been at risk of going blind from the advanced form of trachoma during the lockdown.
COVID-19: updates from around the world
Find out how our staff and partners in Bangladesh, Nigeria, India and Senegal are adapting amid the COVID-19 crisis.
