Global Handwashing Day
Encyclopedia
Soap
In chemistry, soap is a salt of a fatty acid.IUPAC. "" Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 2nd ed. . Compiled by A. D. McNaught and A. Wilkinson. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford . XML on-line corrected version: created by M. Nic, J. Jirat, B. Kosata; updates compiled by A. Jenkins. ISBN...
. It takes place on October 15 of each year. The campaign is dedicated to raising awareness of handwashing with soap as a key approach to disease prevention.
It was made at the annual World Water Week 2008, which was held in Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
from August 17 to 23 and initiated the Public Private Partnership
Public-private partnership
Public–private partnership describes a government service or private business venture which is funded and operated through a partnership of government and one or more private sector companies...
for Handwashing (PPPHW). The Global Handwashing Day took place for the first time on October 15, 2008, the date appointed by UN General Assembly in accordance with year 2008 as the International Year of Sanitation
International Year of Sanitation
The year 2008 has been declared the International Year of Sanitation by the United Nations in conjunction with the Water for Life Decade.The United Nations General Assembly has declared 2008 the International Year of Sanitation. Worldwide there are roughly 2.6 billion people who do not have access...
.
The theme for Global Handwashing Day’s inaugural year was Focus on School Children. The members pledged to get the maximum number of school children handwashing with soap in more than 70 countries.
Background
The campaign was initiated to reduce mortality rates related to diarrhea diseases by introducing simple behavioral changes, such as hand washing with soapHand washing with soap
Handwashing with soap is among the most effective and inexpensive ways to prevent diarrheal diseases and pneumonia, which together are responsible for the majority of child deaths. This behavior is projected to become a significant contribution to meeting the Millennium Development Goal of...
, which according to research can reduce the rate by almost 50 per cent.
Importance of the movement
Hand washing with soap is the single most effective and inexpensive way to prevent diarrheaDiarrhea
Diarrhea , also spelled diarrhoea, is the condition of having three or more loose or liquid bowel movements per day. It is a common cause of death in developing countries and the second most common cause of infant deaths worldwide. The loss of fluids through diarrhea can cause dehydration and...
and acute respiratory infections (ARI), as automatic behavior performed in homes, schools, and communities worldwide. Pneumonia
Pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
, a major ARI, is the number one cause of mortality among children under five years old, taking the life of an estimated 1.8 million children per year. Diarrhea and pneumonia together account for almost 3.5 million child deaths annually. According to the official site, turning hand washing with soap before eating and after using the toilet into an ingrained habit was projected to 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.
Implementation and management
The Public-Private Partnership for Handwashing with Soap (PPPHW) established Global Handwashing Day in 2008 as a stimulating way to promote a global and local vision of handwashing with soap. Members of the PPPHW include the World Bank and Water and Sanitation Program (WSP), host of the PPPHW; the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF); the United States Agency for International Development (USAID); Procter & GambleProcter & Gamble
Procter & Gamble is a Fortune 500 American multinational corporation headquartered in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio and manufactures a wide range of consumer goods....
; Unilever
Unilever
Unilever is a British-Dutch multinational corporation that owns many of the world's consumer product brands in foods, beverages, cleaning agents and personal care products....
; the Water Supply & Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC); the Hygiene Centre at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM); Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University
The Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Johns Hopkins, JHU, or simply Hopkins, is a private research university based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States...
(JHU); and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are a United States federal agency under the Department of Health and Human Services headquartered in Druid Hills, unincorporated DeKalb County, Georgia, in Greater Atlanta...
(CDC). Resource for information and activities for the event coordinated through its official website.
In each country where activities are planned, a convening institution brings together other organizations that have an interest in handwashing to coordinate activities. The 70 countries include: Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
, Angola
Angola
Angola, officially the Republic of Angola , is a country in south-central Africa bordered by Namibia on the south, the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the north, and Zambia on the east; its west coast is on the Atlantic Ocean with Luanda as its capital city...
, UAE, Yemen
Yemen
The Republic of Yemen , commonly known as Yemen , is a country located in the Middle East, occupying the southwestern to southern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the north, the Red Sea to the west, and Oman to the east....
, Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...
, Oman
Oman
Oman , officially called the Sultanate of Oman , is an Arab state in southwest Asia on the southeast coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by the United Arab Emirates to the northwest, Saudi Arabia to the west, and Yemen to the southwest. The coast is formed by the Arabian Sea on the...
, Bahrain
Bahrain
' , officially the Kingdom of Bahrain , is a small island state near the western shores of the Persian Gulf. It is ruled by the Al Khalifa royal family. The population in 2010 stood at 1,214,705, including 235,108 non-nationals. Formerly an emirate, Bahrain was declared a kingdom in 2002.Bahrain is...
, Kuwait
Kuwait
The State of Kuwait is a sovereign Arab state situated in the north-east of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south at Khafji, and Iraq to the north at Basra. It lies on the north-western shore of the Persian Gulf. The name Kuwait is derived from the...
, Qatar
Qatar
Qatar , also known as the State of Qatar or locally Dawlat Qaṭar, is a sovereign Arab state, located in the Middle East, occupying the small Qatar Peninsula on the northeasterly coast of the much larger Arabian Peninsula. Its sole land border is with Saudi Arabia to the south, with the rest of its...
, Bangladesh
Bangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
, Bhutan
Bhutan
Bhutan , officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked state in South Asia, located at the eastern end of the Himalayas and bordered to the south, east and west by the Republic of India and to the north by the People's Republic of China...
, Bolivia
Bolivia
Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...
, Botswana
Botswana
Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana , is a landlocked country located in Southern Africa. The citizens are referred to as "Batswana" . Formerly the British protectorate of Bechuanaland, Botswana adopted its new name after becoming independent within the Commonwealth on 30 September 1966...
, Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso – also known by its short-form name Burkina – is a landlocked country in west Africa. It is surrounded by six countries: Mali to the north, Niger to the east, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and Côte d'Ivoire to the southwest.Its size is with an estimated...
, Burundi
Burundi
Burundi , officially the Republic of Burundi , is a landlocked country in the Great Lakes region of Eastern Africa bordered by Rwanda to the north, Tanzania to the east and south, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west. Its capital is Bujumbura...
, Cambodia
Cambodia
Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...
, Central African Republic
Central African Republic
The Central African Republic , is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It borders Chad in the north, Sudan in the north east, South Sudan in the east, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of the Congo in the south, and Cameroon in the west. The CAR covers a land area of about ,...
, Chad
Chad
Chad , officially known as the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic to the south, Cameroon and Nigeria to the southwest, and Niger to the west...
, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
, Comoros
Comoros
The Comoros , officially the Union of the Comoros is an archipelago island nation in the Indian Ocean, located off the eastern coast of Africa, on the northern end of the Mozambique Channel, between northeastern Mozambique and northwestern Madagascar...
, Republic of Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Djibouti
Djibouti
Djibouti , officially the Republic of Djibouti , is a country in the Horn of Africa. It is bordered by Eritrea in the north, Ethiopia in the west and south, and Somalia in the southeast. The remainder of the border is formed by the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden at the east...
, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo is a state located in Central Africa. It is the second largest country in Africa by area and the eleventh largest in the world...
, Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, Eritrea
Eritrea
Eritrea , officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa. Eritrea derives it's name from the Greek word Erethria, meaning 'red land'. The capital is Asmara. It is bordered by Sudan in the west, Ethiopia in the south, and Djibouti in the southeast...
, Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
, Fiji
Fiji
Fiji , officially the Republic of Fiji , is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about northeast of New Zealand's North Island...
, The Gambia
The Gambia
The Republic of The Gambia, commonly referred to as The Gambia, or Gambia , is a country in West Africa. Gambia is the smallest country on mainland Africa, surrounded by Senegal except for a short coastline on the Atlantic Ocean in the west....
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, Ghana
Ghana
Ghana , officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country located in West Africa. It is bordered by Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south...
, Guatemala
Guatemala
Guatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast...
, Guinea
Guinea
Guinea , officially the Republic of Guinea , is a country in West Africa. Formerly known as French Guinea , it is today sometimes called Guinea-Conakry to distinguish it from its neighbour Guinea-Bissau. Guinea is divided into eight administrative regions and subdivided into thirty-three prefectures...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
, Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
, Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
, Laos
Laos
Laos Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west...
, Liberia
Liberia
Liberia , officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Sierra Leone on the west, Guinea on the north and Côte d'Ivoire on the east. Liberia's coastline is composed of mostly mangrove forests while the more sparsely populated inland consists of forests that open...
, Madagascar
Madagascar
The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...
, Malawi
Malawi
The Republic of Malawi is a landlocked country in southeast Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the northwest, Tanzania to the northeast, and Mozambique on the east, south and west. The country is separated from Tanzania and Mozambique by Lake Malawi. Its size...
, Malaysia, Mali
Mali
Mali , officially the Republic of Mali , is a landlocked country in Western Africa. Mali borders Algeria on the north, Niger on the east, Burkina Faso and the Côte d'Ivoire on the south, Guinea on the south-west, and Senegal and Mauritania on the west. Its size is just over 1,240,000 km² with...
, Mauritania
Mauritania
Mauritania is a country in the Maghreb and West Africa. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean in the west, by Western Sahara in the north, by Algeria in the northeast, by Mali in the east and southeast, and by Senegal in the southwest...
, Mongolia
Mongolia
Mongolia is a landlocked country in East and Central Asia. It is bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south, east and west. Although Mongolia does not share a border with Kazakhstan, its western-most point is only from Kazakhstan's eastern tip. Ulan Bator, the capital and largest...
, Mozambique
Mozambique
Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique , is a country in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west and Swaziland and South Africa to the southwest...
, Namibia
Namibia
Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia , is a country in southern Africa whose western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and east. It gained independence from South Africa on 21 March...
, Nepal
Nepal
Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...
, Nicaragua
Nicaragua
Nicaragua is the largest country in the Central American American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The country is situated between 11 and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere, which places it entirely within the tropics. The Pacific Ocean...
, Niger
Niger
Niger , officially named the Republic of Niger, is a landlocked country in Western Africa, named after the Niger River. It borders Nigeria and Benin to the south, Burkina Faso and Mali to the west, Algeria and Libya to the north and Chad to the east...
, Nigeria
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
, Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
, Panama
Panama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
, Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea , officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands...
, Paraguay
Paraguay
Paraguay , officially the Republic of Paraguay , is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to the east and northeast, and Bolivia to the northwest. Paraguay lies on both banks of the Paraguay River, which runs through the center of the...
, Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
, Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
, Rwanda
Rwanda
Rwanda or , officially the Republic of Rwanda , is a country in central and eastern Africa with a population of approximately 11.4 million . Rwanda is located a few degrees south of the Equator, and is bordered by Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo...
, Senegal
Senegal
Senegal , officially the Republic of Senegal , is a country in western Africa. It owes its name to the Sénégal River that borders it to the east and north...
, Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone , officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Guinea to the north and east, Liberia to the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west and southwest. Sierra Leone covers a total area of and has an estimated population between 5.4 and 6.4...
, Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
, Somalia
Somalia
Somalia , officially the Somali Republic and formerly known as the Somali Democratic Republic under Socialist rule, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. Since the outbreak of the Somali Civil War in 1991 there has been no central government control over most of the country's territory...
, South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
, Sudan
Sudan
Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...
, Suriname
Suriname
Suriname , officially the Republic of Suriname , is a country in northern South America. It borders French Guiana to the east, Guyana to the west, Brazil to the south, and on the north by the Atlantic Ocean. Suriname was a former colony of the British and of the Dutch, and was previously known as...
, Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
, Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
, Tajikistan
Tajikistan
Tajikistan , officially the Republic of Tajikistan , is a mountainous landlocked country in Central Asia. Afghanistan borders it to the south, Uzbekistan to the west, Kyrgyzstan to the north, and China to the east....
, Tanzania
Tanzania
The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...
, Timor Leste, Uganda
Uganda
Uganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by...
, United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
, Yemen
Yemen
The Republic of Yemen , commonly known as Yemen , is a country located in the Middle East, occupying the southwestern to southern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the north, the Red Sea to the west, and Oman to the east....
, Zambia
Zambia
Zambia , officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. The neighbouring countries are the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Tanzania to the north-east, Malawi to the east, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia to the south, and Angola to the west....
, and Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...
.
Founding bodies
| Companies | Members |
|---|---|
| Academy for Educational Development | |
| Centers for Disease Control and Prevention | |
| Procter and Gamble | Ryan Helzerman Aziz Jindani |
| UNICEF | Therese Dooley |
| Unilever | Myriam Sidibe Shweta Harit |
| Water & Sanitation Program | |
| USAID - HIP |
Afghanistan
A committee led by the Health Ministry drove the implementation of the following activities on 15 October and onwards: Launch of Global Handwashing Day in a primary school in Kabul by the Minister of Public Health. Of handwashing and other related competitions in school across 32 provinces organized by the Ministry of Education, panel discussion on Handwashing on National TV, radio program on Handwashing -for a month. - And newspapers supplement on handwashing.Bangladesh
More than 14.4 million Bangladeshi children from nearly 73,000 schools joined in this event, pledging to promote hand washing with soap after using the toilet and before eating. Millions of children from over 70 countries across the continents also participated in the Global Hand Washing Day. This initiative – the first of its kind - was organized by the Global Public Private Partnership on Hand Washing (PPPHW), which includes soap companies, NGOs, and UN organizations. And The Biggest hand washing day was held on dhaka residentsial model collegeAt Puranpara Government Primary School in Narsingdi district, a wall magazine was displayed, encouraging students to participate in a painting competition with the theme of a hand washing. A total of 300 students were present and actively involved in various activities. Shuchi, Pakhee and Faisal demonstrated before their peers the correct method of hand washing with soap. Shuchi described the six critical times for the students to wash their hands: before eating; before feeding children; before preparing or serving food; after using the latrine; after cleaning babies; and after disposal of child faeces. Faisal sang a song insisting all students copy him by using safe hand-washing practices (Cholo jai, haath dhui).
Fahima Tabassum Oishi, a Class-V student, said that whenever she sees someone at home or outside eating without washing their hands with soap, she warns them of the health hazards and teaches them the correct way to wash their hands. Majedul Haque Shubho, a student of the same class, demonstrated the methodical way of hand washing.
Cambodia
National launch ceremony included, as guest speakers, the Ministers of Rural Development, Health and Education, participants included local comedian Chhab Chean, school children and His Majesty the King of Cambodia. Events included television advertising, primary school activities and ceremonies in 100 villages in nine provinces.All primary schools throughout the country had been advised to celebrate GHD on October 15 and had been provided with materials and guidelines.
China
On Global Handwashing Day, there were education activities on proper handwashing methods, involving 8 million students in 10 provinces in school campuses nationwide. Government officials from the Ministry of Education and other Public and Private sector partners announced the ‘Healthy Great Wall’ Foundation with the aim of reaching 100 million Chinese kids by 2015. Also, a mass billboard campaign and TV spots were reminders to participate in the celebration.The event, which featured games and educational activities for children, promoted correct handwashing technique and attracted an estimated 2,000 local residents and students. The event was organized by National Patriotic Health Campaign Committee, and Health Education Institute of China CDC with support from UNICEF.
Egypt
The hand washing day initiative was launched as part of the School Sanitation and Hygiene Education Project (SSHE), that is supported by UNICEF, the provincial authorities, the Egyptian Ministry of Education, USAID and the Water Authority. The SSHE project engages the teachers, the parents associations and the children of some 159 primary schools, and communities in three districts of Sohag governorate, namely Dar El Salam, Geheina and SakoltaAt Al Jihad Al Guedida Primary school in the village of Medinat Geheina, there has been a flurry of activity for the past four weeks. Helped by their teachers as well as their parents, young boys and girls have worked very hard to make the Global Hand-washing Day a real celebration. The walls of the school are covered with posters and drawings made by the children Teamwork has paid well and the children are reciting poems, verses and songs around the benefits of washing hands with soap and especially prepared for the occasion. Later, to a large gathering of fellow pupils, parents, teachers and local officials, a group of young boys went on stage to perform a 5-minute play they had written with the help of their teachers about the importance of personal hygiene and the environment.
In Upper Egypt, children have become real agents of changes. By talking to their parents about simple behavioral changes such as washing hands with soap before and after eating or after using the toilets, these school children are spreading around awareness for a hygienically healthier life. Inspired by their children, parents’ behaviour is also changing. They pay more attention to the personal hygiene of their children.
Ethiopia
The half-day Global Handwashing Day national event held at Maskal Square featured over 300 schoolchildren from five elementary schools. They marched and sang to promote handwashing with soap as an important hygienic practice that reduces the prevalence of diarrhoeal diseases and respiratory illnesses, which together kill 3.5 million children worldwide each year!Ghana
Global Handwashing Day in Ghana started with a launching event at a Children’s Park on 15 October 2008, with the attendance of local authorities and representatives from both the Public and Private sectors.With the help of the National School Health Educational Program (NSHEP), schools nationwide marked the day. Children were in charge of the Handwashing Stations and parades in Accra and Tamele to sensitize the public to wash their hands. Radio and TV talk shows – panel discussions, PSA on handwashing with soap. There was also a children’s forum on handwashing and development and dissemination of IEC materials on HWWS.
India
In September and October, a mass media campaign was held in India with the support of Sachin Tendulkar and Yuvraj Singh, two hugely popular cricket celebrities.Almost 1 million school teachers received training courses to execute the campaign and to reach out to about 100 million school children. Materials developed included: posters, teacher training module on handwashing, pamphlet with pledge for students, TV spots and radio jingles, all including 25 seconds central song on the 5 steps for correct handwashing.
The concerned ministers at national and state levels launched the campaign on 15 October by participating in the handwashing activities with children in rural schools. Activities in schools included: children pledging towards hygiene, organized handwashing games and washing hands in a giant waterfall.
Indian cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar
Sachin Tendulkar
Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar is an Indian cricketer widely regarded as one of the greatest batsmen in the history of cricket. He is the leading run-scorer and century maker in Test and one-day international cricket. He is the only male player to score a double century in the history of ODI cricket...
and his teammates joined an estimated 100 million schoolchildren around the country in lathering up for better health and hygiene as part of the first Global Handwashing Day.
Iraq
There were activities held in schools in northern Iraq, in collaboration with the Ministry of Education. The activities included: conducting activities in 24 primary schools, where a number of headmasters were invited to witness the activities on that day. Also, students designed posters with the messages provided by the WASH program. Hygiene kits were provided to 24 schools. The school activity centre prepared songs written specially for this occasion, and they were sung by the school children.The songs were recorded in CD and copies of these were provided to other schools.
Kenya
A National event was held in Kisumu Town. This was a road show involving school children around Kisumu Municipality led by education officials on motorbikes and trucks to the ground. The commemoration was led by the Minister for Public Health and Sanitation, and it included poems, songs, drama and speeches by children.Seven more districts held activities on Global handwashing Day - In addition to Nairobi, Mombasa, Nyeri, Machakos, Busia, Trans Nzoia and Wajir - Ministry of Education and Ministry of Public Health and Sanitation relayed information to their officers on the ground to commemorate this day by involving schools within their jurisdiction to wash hands on that day. 100,000 children were reached across the country on that day. Information was relayed to the national secretariat through SMS on the numbers who had washed their hands.
Laos
On 13 October the Ministry of Education organized a Hygiene and Sanitation Day and activities that were held during the extracurricular hours in all primary and secondary schools and teacher training colleges throughout the country.Activities included cleaning the school and its surrounding environment, displaying banners in school to promote handwashing and good hygiene practices, putting handwashing with soap into practice, singing hygiene songs and playing games. During the week advertisements aired on the national TV and provincial radios In the Vientiane capital street banners highlighting the Global Handwashing Day and key messages were put up along the main roads.
Madagascar
In Madagascar 19,300 primary schools participated in a week-long event. Handwashing with soap activities involving schools and the community, culminated on October 15 with 3.5 million children washing hands with soap at noon. President Ravalomanana led the Day. Three Ministries issued a joint statement to the Prime Minister to officialize Global Handwashing Day. A parade of schoolchildren through the capital took place on October 15.Malaysia
In Malaysia, Global Handwashing Day was celebrated providing handwashing sampling in schools, kindergarten and clinics. There was also news coverage and advertisements on TV, radio and print media. Malaysia declared the whole month “the month of handwashing with soap”.Mongolia
Mongolia marked Global Handwashing Day by reaching out to school children through engaging communication materials including Public Service Announcements and short cartoon animations on proper handwashing practice. On October 15, the Ministers of Health and Education opened a kindergarten and promoted the practice of proper handwashing in the Bayangol district of Ulaanbaatar City. Also, Provincial Governors demonstrated proper handwashing practice to school children in four provincial capitals namely Bayan-Ulgii, Khovd, Uvs and Dornod.Educational and information efforts, targeting school and
kindergarten children and their parents, were embarked on in each district of
Ulaanbaatar by Public and Private Partnership, formed by government and nongovernmental
organizations, international agencies and the private sector, such
as the Ministry of Education Culture and Science, Ministry of Health and its
agencies, UNICEF, Word Vision, Save the Children UK and Mon-Chemo Co.
Ltd.
Nepal
Nepal Telecom mobile users received a text message with the slogan, "Let's wash our hands and keep ourselves healthy!" And drivers from the Rickshaw Pullers Association raised awareness in all corners of the three major Kathmandu Valley cities. Their rickshaws were decorated with handwashing messages, and the drivers disseminated pamphlets and stickers to thousands of people.Schools also got involved in the campaign when the Private and Boarding Schools Organization of Nepal (PABSON) announced that all of its 9,000 member schools would make sure soap and water are available in all school toilets, bathrooms and canteens.
The General Post Office announced that it would use a postmark with a special handwashing message to stamp all the letters and documents posted for 15 days.
Pakistan
Global Handwashing Day was officially endorsed by the Ministry of Environment of Pakistan, the lead agency for the implementation of the International Year of Sanitation in Pakistan. Local coalition included participants from 25 organizations representing Government, Private, Sector, NGOs and the Academics.The Day was celebrated on 15 October, but many activities were launched beforehand. For example, newscasters endorsed the need of washing hands before meal times were aired on the 7 pm news bulletin of the local Samaa TV (From Friday, 5th Sept to continue 15 October.) The Local coalition committed to reach more than 1 million children with handwashing activities in all four provinces of Pakistan.
Philippines
A multi media Handwashing campaign was launched on Global Handwashing Day to raise awareness among the population. Key activities included: a press conference on September 12 to announce the local coalition with a symbolic handprints activity and handwashing with kids, held at Museo Pambata (Museum for Children). Furthermore, handwashing was promoted through a road show with different stakeholders: schools, businesses and media, prior to the official launch of Global Handwashing Day on October 15 at Makati Park in the heart of the central business district. Over 100 school children were invited to participate in the event and kick off the advocacy of making handwashing with soap an important habit. Starting October 1, there was advocacy for handwashing through press and media articles, TV interviews, banners and posters on Metro Rail Transit (MRT). Simultaneous activities were held outside Manila in other regions.Rwanda
The launch ceremony of Global Hand Washing Day took place in Burera District, located in the Northern Province of Rwanda. Previously, the area suffered from recurring poor hygiene related diseases such as diarrhea and cholera. The focus of the campaign was to make school children the main agents of change.Also, a town hall meeting led by Ministry of Health, Education, Infrastructure, Commerce and the Local Government will be broadcast live on National TV and Radio on October 11, 2008. This three hour live program will attract the larger public participation to phone in and contribute with ideas and ask questions. Directors from the ministries and other key partners will be in the conference hall to provide answers. The event will be covered by the national and international media.
Sierra Leone
Global Handwashing Day launched on October 15 in Freetown and the district headquarters towns - invitation to children from schools and high level political representatives. The event included float parades by school children and NGO partners, drama skits and launch ceremonies culminating in a mass handwashing with soap event.About 200,000 children and 500 mothers were reached throughout the country with the celebrations which generated a buzz around handwashing with soap and serve as the catalyst for initiating a nationwide handwashing with soap campaign in Sierra Leone. Holistic communication elements included: Posters, stickers and T-shirts with handwashing with soap messages.
Sri Lanka
Health Education Bureau organized a ‘train the trainer’ program for Food and Drug Inspectors, Health Education officers and Senior PHIs.On 15 October, 1,500 PHI visited 1,500 schools and reached 1 million school children and demonstrated how handwashing should be done. This activity helped to disseminate the message to a record number of school children. A poster and a flip chart were developed to demonstrate 9 steps of handwashing, based on surgical technique. These visual guides were displayed in places like hospitals, plantation sector clinics child development centers and health clinics. The promotional activities continued in the following week, during Sri Lanka’s Food Safety week from 20–26 October. TV advertorials as well as print advertorials also took place. A press conference was carried out to talk about the importance of handwashing and highlight the GHD activities.
Tajikistan
The Global Handwashing Day was launched by the Public-Private Partnership for Handwashing with Soap (PPPHW) to draw attention to the benefits of handwashing while highlighting the state of handwashing in various countries around the world. Communities appreciated the simple, yet life-saving advice that can have a lasting, positive effect on the health of their children. “After trainings on personal hygiene our behavior has changed” said one of the participants afterward. “We learned the five rules of handwashing. We are washing our hands with soap and will ask others in our community to do the same.”PHASE II launched its activities to improve the health and nutrition of primary school children. As a result, hundreds of secondary school students have been trained to pass on information to primary school children. USAID provides support to 80 schools with an enrollment of approximately 40,300 schoolchildren in the Khatlon region through its PHASE II program activities.
Timor Leste
Timor Leste celebrated Global Handwashing Day starting with a launching event in one of the primary schools in Dili on the 10th of October. Other activities were held in the following days, such as: panel discussion on handwashing in National TV, Community Radio talk program and GHD were celebrated in all districts through primary schools and include competitions, demonstrations, songs, materials etc.Additionally promotional activities were undertaken at transition shelters and IDP camps.
UK
Global Handwashing Day partners in the UK produced a range of activities focused on raising public awareness and engaging school-aged children. The London School of Hygiene & Tropical MedicineLondon School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine is a constituent college of the federal University of London, specialising in public health and tropical medicine...
released results of a study of contamination levels on commuters’ hands in five UK cities. The Health Protection Agency operated interactive handwashing promotion events in underprivileged areas of London. A poster competition gave children ages 6 – 11 the opportunity to think creatively about handwashing promotion for a unique prize trip to India to visit groundbreaking handwashing promotion programs. Activities with policymakers included a media event with several Members of Parliament at the Houses of Parliament, and an Early Day Motion for the Government to support hygiene promotion.
Zambia
Zambia celebrated its Sanitation Week in the week of 15 October 2008, as announced by the Ministry of Local Government and Housing. 13 television programs broadcast discussions on sanitation and hygiene issues.In the capital city, Lusaka, local authorities launched a campaign for hygiene promotion in public places - especially restaurants - to help curb cholera outbreaks. Handwashing practices in food preparation premises topped the agenda in this campaign.