A helping hand

It takes 20 seconds of washing with soap and water to kill germs yet the average person is thought to only spend six seconds. The two most crucial times to wash hands is after using the toilet and before eating, but Dr Val Curtis, director of the Hygiene Centre at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), found that only 39% of people wash their hands before consuming food.

The Centre for Diseases Control and Prevention reiterate that many diseases and conditions are spread by not washing hands with soap and water, and that failure to wash one’s hands contributes to nearly 50% of all foodborne illnesses. Around 2.2 million children die each year from diarrheal diseases and pneumonia. Handwashing with soap could protect one out of three young children with diarrhea and one in six children with respiratory infections like pneumonia.

SAVE LIVES: Clean Your Hands campaign

On 5th May 2014, the SAVE LIVES: Clean Your Hands annual global campaign was celebrated. Organised by the World Health Organization (WHO) to improve hand hygiene worldwide and reduce infections, over 12,000 facilities from around the world took part. 

Global Handwashing Day

Hygiene Centre Staff at the LSHTM have been actively involved in setting up and managing the Global Public Private Partnership to Promote Hand Washing with Soap. This Partnership initiated Global Handwashing Day, which was originally created for children and schools but can be celebrated by anyone promoting hand washing with soap. Each year, on October 15th, over 200 million people are involved in celebrations in over 100 countries.  

World Toilet Day 

On the 24th July 2013, the United Nations General Assembly voted to officially designate the 19th November as World Toilet Day. At least 36% of the world’s population still live without adequate toilets. World Toilet Day is a chance to raise awareness of the sanitation crisis and what can be done to address it, as well as to continue to promote handwashing with soap after defecation. 

National Handwashing Awareness Week

Taking place from 1st to 7th December 2014, National Handwashing Awareness Week is an American based initiative founded by Doctor Will Sawyer, an infection prevention specialist. It encourages family, friends, students and co-workers to keep track of the number of times they wash their hands using a hand washing chart. They can then submit the form to be eligible for a prize.