A Holiday To Celebrate Handwashing?

To the developed world, where children are consistently reminded both at home and at school to “wash your hands,” it may provoke a giggle that the health advocates of the world make a fuss of Global Handwashing Day.

It’s obvious that washing hands is something we should all do to prevent the spread of germs and disease, isn’t it? We know that everybody should be washing hands especially before eating and after using the bathroom to keep healthy, but in the developing world, where soap or clean water for handwashing is not readily accessible, children succumb to, and die from diseases that could be prevented.

Soil-transmitted helminthes (STH) is one such preventable disease, and it is the focus of the work that Children Without Worms (CWW) does every day. STH are intestinal worms that cause children to become malnourished and susceptible to other illnesses. These worms stunt a child’s growth and make it difficult to learn, and in severe cases, children die.

Children become infected with STH when they ingest the eggs of the worms through contaminated food or dirty hands. Washing hands with soap prior to eating and after defecation will reduce infection. It sounds simple enough, yet globally, less than half of all primary schools have access to safe water.  Two thirds of schools lack adequate sanitation facilities.

An integrated approach to prevention and treatment that includes deworming medications, but also, handwashing with soap and improved sanitation practices, could prevent STH as well other neglected tropical diseases that impact the lives of hundreds of millions of children every day.

Our partnership with Johnson & Johnson to treat intestinal worms with mebendazole and to teach hygiene in schools is a cornerstone of our work, and an example of how the global health community can work with partners to collaborate across sectors and within communities to accelerate progress.

This week CWW has joined a range of WASH (Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene) advocates that will descend on Washington, D.C. to take a “bathroom pass” and encourage decision makers to prioritize funding for these initiatives. Because a holistic effort to comprehensively improve sanitation — which requires education about hygienic practices such as handwashing with soap, as well sustainable investments in sanitation and hand washing facilities — will  save our children from a range of preventable diseases.

Awareness days are about just that — raising awareness.  Global Handwashing Day may not be your traditional holiday, but it is a call to action for health and development advocates alike. Let’s heed the call and make a greater commitment to increasing investment in WASH so children can lead healthy, productive lives.

Photo credit: UN Photo/Marco Castro