On 15 October 2011 people across the globe will celebrate the 4th annual Global Handwashing Day aimed at increasing awareness and understanding of the importance of handwashing with soap as an effective and affordable way to prevent disease.
Last year, 200 million people and 700,000 schools in more than 100 countries celebrated the event. All schools (18 million children) across Bangladesh participated in the celebrations which included mass handwashing demonstrations and nationwide media coverage. The event was used as a platform to launch the Government’s National Hygiene Campaign which aims to promote long‐term behavior change, particularly handwashing with soap.
Global Handwashing Day was initiated in 2008 by the Global Public‐Private Partnership for Handwashing with Soap (PPPHW), and it is endorsed by a wide array of governments, international institutions, civil society organisations, NGOs, private companies and individuals around the globe.
This year the PPPHW is releasing Governments Take Action, a brief about how governments are taking action to promote handwashing.
For further information, visit www.globalhandwashingday.org or go to the Facebook:
www.facebook.com/GlobalHandwashingDay
Source: Global Handwashing Day 2011 press release
Sanitation Updates 