A day to celebrate: A simple behavior that can save lives
Over 200 million people
Over 100 countries
Over 1,000,000 schools
Growing each year
Leading to longer-term changes (ex. Policies, program investments, political leadership, etc.)
This October 15th is Global Handwashing Day’s fifth birthday. Lifebuoy is using this milestone to draw attention to the 2.1 million children who don’t reach 5 every year, due to pneumonia and diarrhoea – diseases that can both be prevented by handwashing with soap.
With little over three years to go until the deadline for the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) including MDG 4 – to reduce the mortality of child under five by two-thirds – Lifebuoy and its partners [PSI and UNICEF] are calling on governments, schools and communities in India to focus on handwashing with soap as an intervention that can help save millions more lives.
Facts on Handwashing
- Handwashing with soap saves lives – that’s why Lifebuoy is aiming to change the handwashing behaviours of one billion people
- Handwashing with soap at key occasions in the day can reduce diarrhoeal risk by about 45%
- Pneumonia and diarrhoea account for nearly a third of the deaths among children under five globally – that’s more than 2 million children every year
- In the last two years, Lifebuoy has already changed the handwashing behaviour of 48 million people through its handwashing programmes
- This is part of the ambition of Unilever (Lifebuoy’s parent company) to help one billion people take action to improve their health and well-being by 2020
Find out more about Global Handwashing Day
Some Useful Resources
- Public pledge: help a child reach five on Facebook.com/Lifebuoy – for every pledge, Lifebuoy and our partner PSI, will help more children reach five through handwashing programmes
- Download a simple guide to teach your child proper handwashing techniques
- Latest report from UNICEF: Pneumonia and Diarrhoea, Tackling the Deadliest Diseases for the World’s Poorest Children (June 2012)
Filed under: Sustainability Tagged: Global Handwashing Day, Unilever, USLP
