Global Handwashing Day: “Clean Hands – a recipe for health”

Today (October 15) marks the Global Handwashing Day, a campaign to motivating and mobilizing people around the world to improve their handwashing habits. This campaign allows people to reflect on the importance of washing our hands and consider handwashing with soap as a “DIY vaccine” to prevent diseases and save lives.

Global Handwashing Day was initiated to lower childhood mortality rates related respiratory and diarrheal diseases by introducing simple behavioral changes, in this case: ‘handwashing with soap’. According to Val Curtis and Sandy Cairncross, this simple action can reduce the mortality rate of respiratory disease by 25%. Death from diarrheal diseases can be reduced by 50%.

Practicing handwashing with soap before eating and after using the washroom daily can 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. Proper hygiene requires an individual who realizes the importance of good hygiene and develops the habits to carry it out.

This year’s Global Handwashing Day theme, “Clean Hands – a recipe for health”, indicates the connection between handwashing and food. Critical food-related occasions for handwashing with soap include: before cooking or preparing food, before eating, and before feeding someone. The contamination of food can lead to various illnesses and plagues, many of which are particularly dangerous for young children and people with compromised immune systems.

Besides raising awareness, Global Handwashing Day also encourages action to promote and sustain handwashing habits. Organizations and individuals can celebrate Global Handwashing Day by planning an event, participating in a digital campaign, or simply spreading the word about the importance of handwashing.