Clean Hands Save Lives

2011 – A Huge Success!

Congratulations to all those who were involved in this year’s Global Handwashing Day (GHD) celebrations, which took place on the 15th October!

We reached tens of thousands of people across the UK and millions worldwide with our simple message: wash your hands with soap!

The various 2011 activities drew large-scale attention resulting in over 16,000 GHD website page views during October, with almost 8000 of those on the 14th and 15th alone.

A huge thank-you to all those who were part of the campaign and who continue to spread the message. Well done!

If you’d like to enquire to find out more about Global Handwashing Day or to become part of the coalition for the 2012 campaign, please contact us.

View Movie - 'Habit'

View Movie - 'Faecal Bacteria Found On Mobile Phones '

Please click here to listen to a Podcast of Dr. Val Curtis of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine talking about a study into Faecal Bacteria on mobile phones and the importance of handwashing with soap and water after visiting the lavatory.

The practice of handwashing with soap tops the international hygiene agenda on October 15th, with the celebration of Global Handwashing Day.

Handwashing with soap is among the most effective and inexpensive ways
to prevent diarrhoeal diseases and pneumonia, which together are responsible
for the deaths of over 3.5m children under the age of 5 every year. In developed countries, handwashing helps to prevent the spread of viral infections, such as norovirus, rotavirus and influenza.

Although people around the world wash their hands with water, many do not wash
their hands with soap at critical moments, including after going to the toilet and before handling or eating food. The challenge is to transform handwashing with soap from an abstract good idea into an automatic behaviour carried out in homes, schools, workplaces and communities.

Global Handwashing Day is the centrepiece of a week of activities that aim to mobilise
millions of people to wash their hands with soap. This simple activity could save more lives than any vaccine or medical intervention, preventing the spread of infection and keeping children in school.

Children, who so often are energetic, enthusiastic and open to new ideas, can act as agents of change by taking the handwashing lessons learned at school back into their homes and communities. Global Handwashing Day aims to motivate children to embrace and share proper handwashing practices and to take on the role of handwashing ambassadors.

We would like to know how you will be celebrating Global Handwashing Day this year - please tell us about your activities using the Contact Us form.

 

 

 

 

Global Handwashing Day UK partners include: AMREF; Axiom Communications; Care Commission; Carex; City eHealth Research Centre; Duo Tech Limited; E-bug; EduGames4All; First News; GlaxoSmithKline; Health Protection Agency; Initial Washrooms UK; International Infection Prevention Week; International Scientific Forum on Home Hygiene; Kiddiwash; Kimberly-Clark Professional; London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine; PooP Creative; Queen Mary University of London; Sanofi Pasteur MSD; School Councils UK; Seven Scent; Teal; The Ideas Foundation; The Wiggles; Unilever; WaterAid; World Health Organization