The importance of health promotion in the prevention of COVID-19

There is an increasing realization that biomedical procedures alone cannot guarantee better health. Health is essentially influenced by factors outside the scope of the health sector, especially economic, social, and political forces. Health promotion is the process of empowering people to increase control over their health and its determinants through health literacy efforts and multisectoral action to increase healthy behaviors. Current evidence revealed that the COVID-19 virus is transmitted through respiratory droplets or contact. Contact route occurs when contaminated hands touch the mucosa of the mouth, nose, or eyes; the virus can also be spread from one surface to another by contaminated hands, which facilitates indirect contact transmission. Previously severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS) and other threatening diseases were eliminated with the application of preventive health measures (to avoid being exposed) without effective treatment or vaccine. In this review, the author reviewed Medline, Google Scholar, EMBASE, Saudi Digital Library, Springerlink, and PubMed database and relevant websites (e.g. www.who.int and www.cdc.gov) for all available articles and publication related to health promotion or COVID-19. Conclusion: Promoting precautionary behaviors in the public through personal hygiene and voluntary social distancing will break the chain of infection and prevent the transmission of the COVID-19 (your health in your hand).