Global Handwashing Day (GHD) is an international hand washing promotion campaign to motivate and mobilize people around the world to improve their

hand washing Hand washing (or handwashing), also known as hand hygiene, is the act of cleaning one's hands with soap, soap or handwash and water to remove viruses, bacteria, microorganisms, dirt, grease, and other harmful or unwanted substances stuck to th ...

habits. Washing hands at critical points both during the day and washing with

soap Soap is a salt (chemistry), salt of a fatty acid (sometimes other carboxylic acids) used for cleaning and lubricating products as well as other applications. In a domestic setting, soaps, specifically "toilet soaps", are surfactants usually u ...

are important. In 2008, Global Handwashing Day was celebrated for the first time. This day aims to make people around the world aware of the importance of washing their hands with soap in order to prevent diseases and infections. To commemorate this day, over 120 million children in 70 countries were encouraged to practice

handwashing Hand washing (or handwashing), also known as hand hygiene, is the act of cleaning one's hands with soap or handwash and water to remove viruses, bacteria, microorganisms, dirt, grease, and other harmful or unwanted substances stuck to the han ...

with soap. Since then, the movement has built momentum, garnering support from various stakeholders such as governments, schools, NGOs, and private firms. Global Hand washing Day occurs on 15 October of every year. The global campaign is dedicated to

raising awareness Consciousness raising (also called awareness raising) is a form of activism popularized by United States feminists in the late 1960s. It often takes the form of a group of people attempting to focus the attention of a wider group on some cause or ...

hand-washing Hand washing (or handwashing), also known as hand hygiene, is the act of cleaning one's hands with soap or handwash and water to remove viruses, bacteria, microorganisms, dirt, grease, and other harmful or unwanted substances stuck to the han ...

with soap as a key factor to

disease prevention Preventive healthcare, or prophylaxis, is the application of healthcare measures to prevent diseases.Hugh R. Leavell and E. Gurney Clark as "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life, and promoting physical and mental health a ...

. With proper handwashing,

respiratory The respiratory system (also respiratory apparatus, ventilatory system) is a biological system consisting of specific organs and structures used for gas exchange in animals and plants. The anatomy and physiology that make this happen varies gr ...

and intestinal diseases can be reduced by 25–50%.

Implementation and management

The Global Handwashing Partnership (GHP) (formerly called "Public Private Partnership for Handwashing" (PPPHW)) established Global Handwashing Day in 2008 to promote a global and local vision of handwashing with soap. Steering Committee members of the GHP include

Colgate-Palmolive The Colgate-Palmolive Company, commonly known as Colgate-Palmolive, is an American multinational corporation, multinational consumer products company headquartered on Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The company specializes in ...

; FHI 360; The

London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) is a public university, public research university in Bloomsbury, central London, and a constituent college, member institution of the University of London that specialises in public hea ...

;

Procter & Gamble The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) is an American multinational consumer goods corporation headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was founded in 1837 by William Procter and James Gamble. It specializes in a wide range of personal health/con ...

;

UNICEF UNICEF ( ), originally the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, officially United Nations Children's Fund since 1953, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Development a ...

;

Unilever Unilever PLC () is a British multinational consumer packaged goods company headquartered in London, England. It was founded on 2 September 1929 following the merger of Dutch margarine producer Margarine Unie with British soap maker Lever B ...

;

University at Buffalo The State University of New York at Buffalo (commonly referred to as UB, University at Buffalo, and sometimes SUNY Buffalo) is a public university, public research university in Buffalo, New York, Buffalo and Amherst, New York, United States. ...

;

USAID The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an agency of the United States government that has been responsible for administering civilian United States foreign aid, foreign aid and development assistance. Established in 19 ...

; the Water and Sanitation Program at the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...

; and the Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council. Continued research on handwashing habits and practices has been commissioned in conjunction with GHD. In 2011,

Svenska Cellulosa Aktiebolaget Svenska Cellulosa Aktiebolaget () is a Sweden, Swedish wood industry, timber, pulp and paper industry, pulp and paper manufacturer with headquarters in Sundsvall. It has approximately 3,450 employees and a turnover of approximately Swedish krona ...

(SCA), sponsored a study to assess the handwashing habits of American and Canadian adults, finding that many were not using soap when washing their hands.

Aims

The stated aims of Global Handwashing Day are to: * Foster and support a general culture of handwashing with soap in all societies * Shine a spotlight on the state of handwashing in each country * Raise awareness about the benefits of handwashing with soap.

Activities

Each year, over 200 million people celebrate Global Handwashing Day.

Examples

* On 15 October 2014,

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (; ; ) is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and the largest city is Indore, Indore. Other major cities includes Gwalior, Jabalpur, and Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, Sagar. Madhya Pradesh is the List of states and union te ...

, an Indian state, won the

Guinness World Record ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, listi ...

for the most massive handwashing program. There were 1,276,425 children in 51 different districts participating. * Sometimes, groups choose to celebrate GHD on other dates than 15 October. In

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

, 300 people celebrated Global Handwashing Day in

Addis Ababa Addis Ababa (; ,) is the capital city of Ethiopia, as well as the regional state of Oromia. With an estimated population of 2,739,551 inhabitants as of the 2007 census, it is the largest city in the country and the List of cities in Africa b ...

on 1 November in 2013. * On 15 October 2015, Lupok Central Elementary School, Guiuan Eastern Samar,

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

, celebrated the Global Handwashing Day by doing the proper handwashing before starting classes.

History

Global Handwashing Day was initiated by the Global Handwashing Partnership (GHP) in August 2008 at the annual World Water Week in Stockholm, Sweden. This means that the first Global Handwashing Day took place on 15 October 2008. The date was appointed by the UN General Assembly. The year 2008 was also the International Year of Sanitation. The founding bodies in 2008 included: FHI360 (a nonprofit human development organization based in the US), US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,

, World Bank Water & Sanitation Program and the

United States Agency for International Development The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an agency of the United States government that has been responsible for administering civilian foreign aid and development assistance. Established in 1961 and reorganized in 1998 ...

Themes for annual Global Handwashing Day

* 2022 - Unite for Universal Hand Hygiene * 2021 - Our Future Is at Hand – Let's Move Forward Together. * 2020 - Hand Hygiene for All. * 2019 - Clean Hands for All. In the US, the US CDC used the theme Life is Better with Clean Hands and launched throughout the USA a national hand hygiene campaign targeting adults who are parents and caregivers in communicating the importance of handwashing before cooking at home and after using the bathroom when out in public. They used ideas such as 'Handwashing: a family activity' and 'Handwashing: A healthy habit in the kitchen' when focusing on parents' educational roles with their children. * 2018 - Clean hands - a recipe for health. * 2017 - Our hands, our future. * 2016 - Make handwashing a habit. * 2015 - Raise a hand for hygiene.On Global Handwashing Day, raise a hand for hygiene. Peace Corps website. 2015. Accessed October 15, 2019
/ref> * 2014 - Clean hands save lives. In 2014, Global Handwashing Day was used as an opportunity to fight Ebola. In Nigeria, for example, Concern Universal and Carex sponsored events featuring singer Sunny Neji. * 2013 - The power is in your hands. * 2012 - I am a handwashing advocate. * 2011 - Clean hands save lives. * 2010 - Children and Schools. * 2009 - Spread the word, not the germs. * 2008 - The focus for Global Handwashing Day's inaugural year in 2008 was school children. In that year, the members pledged to get the maximum number of school children handwashing with soap in more than 70 countries. In

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

in 2008,

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

legend

Sachin Tendulkar Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar (; ; born 24 April 1973) is an Indian former international cricketer who List of India national cricket captains#Men's cricket, captained the Indian national team. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest cricketer ...

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.

Background

The campaign was initiated to reduce childhood mortality rates and related

and Diarrhoeal diseases by introducing simple behavioral changes, such as

with

. This simple action can reduce the

mortality rate Mortality rate, or death rate, is a measure of the number of deaths (in general, or due to a specific cause) in a particular Statistical population, population, scaled to the size of that population, per unit of time. Mortality rate is typically ...

of respiratory disease by 25%. Death from Diarrhoeal diseases can be reduced by 50%. Across the world, more than 60 percent of health workers do not adhere to proper hand hygiene. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, US health care providers, on average, wash their hands less than half of the time they should. On any given day, one in 25 US hospital patients has at least one healthcare-associated infection.

Importance of handwashing

Handwashing with soap is recognized as a highly effective and cost-efficient method for preventing diseases such as

diarrhea Diarrhea (American English), also spelled diarrhoea or diarrhœa (British English), is the condition of having at least three loose, liquid, or watery bowel movements in a day. It often lasts for a few days and can result in dehydration d ...

and acute respiratory infections.

Pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

, a significant acute respiratory infection, is the leading cause of death among children under five years old, responsible for approximately 1.8 million child deaths each year. Together, diarrhea and pneumonia account for almost 3.5 million child fatalities annually. Studies estimate that handwashing with soap can reduce the incidence of diarrhea by 30% and respiratory infections by 21% in children under five years old. Regular handwashing with soap is a critical practice for health and

hygiene Hygiene is a set of practices performed to preserve health. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), "Hygiene refers to conditions and practices that help to maintain health and prevent the spread of diseases." Personal hygiene refer ...

, significantly reducing the risks of certain diseases. It is more effective in preventing illness than some medical interventions, reducing diarrhea-related deaths by nearly half and deaths from acute respiratory infections by a quarter. Handwashing is frequently integrated into broader

WASH Wash or the Wash may refer to: Industry and sanitation * WASH or WaSH, "water, sanitation and hygiene", three related public health issues * Wash (distilling), the liquid produced by the fermentation step in the production of distilled beverages ...

(Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene) programs. The Global Handwashing Day plays a key role in promoting awareness of handwashing benefits, particularly emphasizing its importance for children through engaging activities. Overall, effective hygiene practices hinge on awareness and the development of consistent handwashing habits. Peer influence has been observed to play a significant role in encouraging handwashing practices. For instance, a study in Kenya demonstrated that the presence of peers increased the likelihood of students washing their hands. This effect of peer influence, however, depends on the awareness and acceptance among peers that handwashing is a positive and desirable behavior.

Related awareness days

The

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a list of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations which coordinates responses to international public health issues and emergencies. It is headquartered in Gen ...

(WHO) celebrates a World Hand Hygiene Day on 5 May. In 2018 the theme was prevention of

sepsis Sepsis is a potentially life-threatening condition that arises when the body's response to infection causes injury to its own tissues and organs. This initial stage of sepsis is followed by suppression of the immune system. Common signs and s ...

in health care. The theme of the year before was to combat

antibiotic resistance Antimicrobial resistance (AMR or AR) occurs when microbes evolve mechanisms that protect them from antimicrobials, which are drugs used to treat infections. This resistance affects all classes of microbes, including bacteria (antibiotic resis ...

(AMR).

Global collaboration

* The US Peace Corps volunteers have contributed to observation of Global Handwashing Day. * Global Handwashing Day supports the 2013 Water for the World Act, which aims to improve effectiveness and efficiency of that part of U.S. foreign aid which is committed to global water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) by ensuring that funds will reach the neediest human populations who require WASH interventions the most.

Campaign effectiveness

A 2012 study from China attempted to qualitatively assess Chinese social media users’ reactions to Global Handwashing Day (GHD) 2012, in particular, and to health promotion campaigns in general. They concluded that social media data in China can be used to evaluate public health campaigns in China.

References

External links

Global Handwashing Partnership

Official site for Global Handwashing Day
{{Public health Hygiene Sanitation International medical and health organizations International observances Health awareness days United Nations days October observances