New Delhi: As the world will observe 12th Global Handwashing Day on Tuesday, it is a global advocacy day dedicated to increasing awareness and understanding about the importance of handwashing with soap and handwash as an effective and affordable way to prevent diseases and save lives.
Global Handwashing Day (GHD) is an opportunity to design, test and replicate creative ways to encourage people to wash their hands with soaps and handwashes at critical times. Each year, over 200 million people are involved in celebrations in over 100 countries around the world. Global Handwashing is endorsed by a wide array of governments, international institutions, civil society organizations, NGOs, private companies, and individuals.
2019's theme- “Clean Hands for All” :
The theme follows the push to leave no one behind in the Sustainable Development Agenda. Inequalities in handwashing facilities and effective handwashing promotion programs can put individuals at higher risk for diseases that impact their health, education, and economic outcomes.
GHD was created by the Global Public-Private Partnership for Handwashing in 2008 to:
• Foster and support a global culture of handwashing with soap.
• Shine a spotlight on the state of handwashing in every country.
• Raise awareness about the benefits of handwashing with soap
Record to be achieved on 15th October 2019:
On 15 October—Global Handwashing Day—children all over America will try to establish the Guinness World Record for the highest number of students washing their hands at the same time. It's a fun way to foster a culture of handwashing with soap, a habit that is among the most effective and inexpensive ways to prevent diarrheal diseases and pneumonia.
Impact of Handwashing with Soap:
- 47% of diarrheal diseases preventable through handwashing.
- 16% of respiratory infections preventable through handwashing.
- 1:92 estimated return on investment of national handwashing behavior change program in India.
- 40% reduction in healthcare-associated infections with correct hand hygiene.
History Of Global Handwashing Day In India:
- In the 1st leg of Global Handwashing Day, the theme was school children. In 2008, the aim was to get the maximum number of school children to wash their hands with soap in more than 70 countries. Cricketer Sachin Tendulkar and his teammates joined an estimated 100 million school kids around the nation for better health and hygiene as part of the first Global Handwashing Day.
- In the year 2014, the campaign was used to fight Ebola, a deadly disease caused by a virus. Swachh Bharat Mission launched by the Prime Minister of India on 2nd October 2014 aims to achieve a Swachh Bharat by 2019 with a mass movement for cleanliness.
- In the year 2015, Madhya Pradesh won the Guinness World Record for the massive handwashing program. As per the Guinness declaration, 1,276,425 children washed their hands at over 13,196 locations across the 51 districts of Madhya Pradesh on the occasion of Global Handwashing Day (October 15, 2014).
- Salem attempts Guinness record on Global Hand Washing Day (2018)
“Wash Hand Salem-2018”. Teaming up with UNICEF, service organizations and educational institutions, the administration succeeded in drawing a large number of people, including students, to the event. Around 4,000 college and school students made a beeline to the Sona College of Technology ground in the city, where a relay handwashing event was held. QUEST, an organisation from Chennai, facilitated the event on behalf of UNICEF and Guinness World Records. More than 4,000 people completed relay hand washing at the venue.
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