Clean Hands Saves Lives

Clean Hands Save Lives

Global Handwashing Day 15 October 2010

More than 3.5 million children under five die every year from diarrhoea and pneumonia-related diseases. The simple act of washing hands with soap can reduce the incidence of diarrhoeal rates among children under five by almost 50 per cent, and respiratory infections by nearly 25 percent.

A new, free book, Sharing experiences: Effective hygiene promotion in South East Asia and the Pacific will be launched on Global Handwashing Day, Friday 15 October 2010.

"Effective hygiene promotion is one of the most cost-effective public health interventions available. The simple act of washing hands with soap at critical moments, including after using the toilet and before handling food, can save the lives of millions of children each year" said Adam Laidlaw, Chief Executive of WaterAid.

The book aims to boost hygiene promotion efforts. It has 11 new case studies from different countries and two key note papers from international experts, all written to help people to design programs for the effective promotion of good hygiene practices.

The book is a collaboration between WaterAid in Australia, International Water Centre, IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre and the contributing authors with financial support from AusAID, the Australian Government's overseas aid program.

15 October is the 3rd annual Global Handwashing Day. Last year, the Day was celebrated in 83 countries worldwide, involving 200 million children in 600,000 schools who washed their hands with soap to show that it is an effective, affordable way to prevent diseases.

Sharing Experiences will be distributed in printed form and can be downloaded for free at http://www.wateraidcommunity.org.au/hygienebook or from October 15, 2010.

More information:
James Wicken
0403 497 316
[email protected]

SOURCE: Global Handwashing Day October 15 2010