Global Handwashing Day facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Global Handwashing Day |
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The emblem for Global Handwashing Day shows water, soap, and a hand.
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| Celebrations | "Our hands, our future!" |
| Date | 15 October |
| Next time | 15 October 2025 |
| Frequency | Annual |
| First time | 15 October 2008 |
| Related to | Menstrual hygiene day |
Global Handwashing Day, also known as GHD, is a special day celebrated every year on October 15th. It's all about encouraging people everywhere to wash their hands with soap. This simple habit is one of the best ways to stop germs from spreading and prevent sickness.
The first Global Handwashing Day was in 2008. On that day, more than 120 million children in 70 different countries learned how to wash their hands properly with soap. Since then, many governments, schools, and companies have joined in to help spread the message. Washing your hands with soap can lower your chances of getting sick from breathing-related illnesses and stomach bugs by 25% to 50%.
Contents
Why Is Handwashing So Important?
Washing your hands with soap is a cheap and very effective way to stay healthy. It helps prevent illnesses like diarrhea and acute respiratory infections (illnesses that affect your breathing).
Pneumonia, a serious lung infection, is one of the main reasons young children get very sick. Diarrhea and pneumonia together cause millions of child deaths around the world each year. Studies show that just by washing hands with soap, we can reduce diarrhea cases by about 30% and respiratory infections by about 21% in children under five.
Handwashing is often part of a bigger plan called WASH, which stands for Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene. Global Handwashing Day helps everyone remember how important this simple action is.
How Friends Can Help
It's been shown that when kids see their friends washing their hands, they are more likely to do it too. This is called peer influence, and it can be a great thing when it comes to staying healthy. When everyone agrees that handwashing is a good and normal thing to do, it helps create a healthier community for all.
The Goals of Global Handwashing Day
The main goals of this special day are to:
- Encourage everyone, in every country, to make handwashing with soap a normal part of their day.
- Show how well (or not so well) people are doing with handwashing in different parts of the world.
- Teach people about all the great health benefits of washing hands with soap.
How People Celebrate
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Every year, more than 200 million people take part in Global Handwashing Day events.
Here are some cool examples from past years:
- In 2014, the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh set a Guinness World Record for the largest handwashing event ever. A massive 1,276,425 children from 51 different districts all washed their hands at the same time!
- In 2013, people in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, celebrated the day on November 1st.
- In 2015, a school in the Philippines celebrated by having all the students practice proper handwashing before their classes started for the day.
The History of the Day
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Global Handwashing Day was started in August 2008 by a group called the Global Handwashing Partnership. They announced it during the annual World Water Week event in Stockholm, Sweden. The United Nations officially set the date as October 15.
The year 2008 was also the International Year of Sanitation, which made it the perfect time to start this new tradition. The groups that helped create the day included UNICEF, the World Bank, and other health organizations.
Themes from Past Years
Each Global Handwashing Day has a special theme to focus on. Here are some of the themes from recent years:
- 2022: Unite for Universal Hand Hygiene
- 2021: Our Future Is at Hand – Let's Move Forward Together
- 2020: Hand Hygiene for All
- 2019: Clean Hands for All
- 2018: Clean hands - a recipe for health
- 2017: Our hands, our future
- 2016: Make handwashing a habit
- 2014: Clean hands save lives. This year, the day was also used to help fight the Ebola outbreak.
- 2008: The very first theme focused on school children. Famous Indian cricket player Sachin Tendulkar joined about 100 million students in India to wash their hands and promote good hygiene.
Other Important Health Days
Global Handwashing Day is not the only day focused on health. The World Health Organization (WHO) has its own World Hand Hygiene Day on May 5th. This day often focuses on the importance of clean hands in hospitals and clinics to prevent the spread of infections.
See also
In Spanish: Día Mundial del Lavado de Manos para niños
- Hygiene
- Infection control
- Infectious disease
- Menstrual Hygiene Day
- Sanitation
- World Toilet Day
