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Why ?
Why
a Global Day for Handwashing with Soap?
Handwashing with soap
is the most effective and inexpensive way to prevent
diarrheal and acute respiratory infections, which take
the lives of millions of children in developing
countries every year. Together, they are responsible
for the majority of all child deaths. Yet, despite its
lifesaving potential, handwashing with soap is seldom
practiced and difficult to promote.
The challenge is to transform handwashing with soap
from an abstract good idea into an automatic behavior
performed in homes, schools, and communities
worldwide. Turning handwashing with soap before eating
and after using the toilet into an ingrained habit
could save more lives than any single vaccine or
medical intervention, cutting deaths from diarrhea by
almost half and deaths from acute respiratory
infections by one-quarter. A vast change in
handwashing behavior is critical to meeting the
Millennium Development Goal of reducing deaths among
children under the age of five by two-thirds by 2015.
The driving theme for Global Handwashing Day is
children and schools, and the main objectives of this
global celebration are:
• Foster and support a global and local culture of
handwashing with soap.
• Shine a spotlight on the state of handwashing in
each country.
• Raise awareness about the benefits of handwashing
with soap.
Initiated in 2008 by the Global Public-Private
Partnership for Handwashing with Soap, Global
Handwashing Day is endorsed by a wide array of
governments, international institutions, civil society
organizations, NGOs, private companies and individuals
around the globe.
Initiated by
AED-
Academy for Educational Development
CDC-Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Colgate-Palmolive
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
Procter and Gamble
UNICEF
Unilever
World Bank - WSP (Water & Sanitation Program)
USAID- HIP |