SPC Geoscience Division

The Global Handwashing Day is being celebrated around the globe on October 15. Simply washing hands with soap breaks the transmission route of infectious diseases, which is crucial in saving lives. Washing hands with soap at critical times can reduce diarrhoeal incidence by 47%. Diarrhoea occupies a leading position among diseases as a cause of death and illness, especially in children.

In the Pacific region, around 3000 children under the age of 5 years die from diarrhoea annually. Globally, hand washing could save around 1 million lives, more than any single vaccine or medical intervention.

Hand washing with soap at critical times is a simple and cost-effective measure to improve health and will significantly reduce the two leading causes of childhood mortality worldwide – diarrhoeal disease and acute respiratory infection.