Beginning in 2008, Global Handwashing Day has been celebrated annually on October 15th to raise awareness on the current state of handwashing around the world and bring the global community together to improve the knowledge of proper hygiene. Each year, over 200 million people take part in the celebration – and with you, that number will keep growing!

This year’s theme for Global Handwashing Day, Clean Hands – A Recipe for Health, is focused on the relationship between hygiene and food. In addition to washing our hands after going to the bathroom or cleaning, washing our hands before we eat, cook, and feed others is a critical step in ensuring the health of our families and ourselves.

While the two times for handwashing with greatest effect on child health are after using the bathroom and before handling food, the CDC also recommends washing hands after handling animals and animal products, after sneezing, coughing, or blowing your nose, and after caring for sick/injured individuals. For most people, however, this is easier said than done.

In a survey of 51 countries, the percentages of homes that had soap ranged from .01% in Ethiopia to 99.1% in Serbia, with an average of 43%. Out of 679,467 homes surveyed, only 286,437 had soap in an area designated for handwashing. This staggering 58% of homes don’t use soap with water! Additionally, an analysis of this study in conjunction with 42 others, shows that only 19% of people wash their hands after fecal contact.

In an effort to change this and reduce the number of hygiene-related deaths, Clean the World focuses on WASH education and access. While educating the next generation about the importance of proper handwashing, we pinpoint women in the community to learn how to make soap to facilitate an economy around soap production and use; therefore, ensuring the sustainability of our programs. For this year’s Global Handwashing Month, we invite you to join us in raising awareness on the importance of handwashing on social media! Take a video of your handwashing routine, singing the handwashing song, or tell us why you wash your hands on social media! Be sure to tag us @CleantheWorld and use the hashtags #GlobalHandwashingDay2018 and #SoapSavesLives so we can see all your hard work!