Global Handwashing Day is an annual event observed on October 15. This day aims at promoting and spreading the culture of washing hands with water and soap as a basic hygiene rule that reduces the transmission of many diseases.

Official date: October 15

Key focus areas:

• Promote handwashing as a healthy habit that prevents transmission of diseases effectively.
• Encourage individuals to wash their hands with water and soap regularly, specifically before and after eating, using the bathroom, and before sleeping.
• Use videos and informative materials to educate individuals on the appropriate way to wash their hands.
• Target students in awareness campaigns as they are the most vulnerable to diseases which result from neglecting hand hygiene.
• Publish informative posters as reminders of the importance of handwashing, specifically in sanitary facilities.
• Maintain the cleanliness of sanitary facilities.
• Include promoting handwashing in the agendas of all awareness-raising programmes that aim at ending the spread of infections.
• Clarify the crucial role of washing hands with soap and water as one of the precautionary measures that have proven effective during the time of the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Emphasize the importance of hand hygiene as the cornerstone of the individual and community’s health.

Key facts:

• There are 1.4 million cases of death among children annually because of pneumonia and diarrhea resulting from a lack of hand hygiene.
• Washing hands with water and soap reduces the number of deaths resulting from diarrhea by approximately half.
• Handwashing facilities do not exist in 33% of health institutions.
• Hand washing protects healthcare workers from infection by 50%.