Unicef to lead observance of World Handwashing Day

MANILA, Philippines - The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) will launch next week a program to promote awareness among 500,000 Filipino schoolchildren about the importance of hand washing with soap to prevent diseases.

Timothy Grieve, UNICEF Philippines Water and Sanitation chief, told reporters in Makati yesterday that like in the past celebration of Global Handwashing Day (GHD), the agency will get the support of private businesses, the Department of Education and media, including the Knowledge Channel, for the campaign that would be launched on Monday at the Lucas Pascual Elementary School in Baesa, Quezon City.

“If we have to make an impact on Filipino children, we must work as a team. Washing hands and cleaning toilets are cheap interventions. We have to spread the power of handwashing. Clean hands save lives,” said Grieve.

Grieve said 3.5 million children worldwide die each year from diseases that could have been prevented by handwashing with soap.

He said 13,000 children worldwide die of pneumonia while 67 percent of Filipino children under the age of five suffer from intestinal worms, which could be prevented by simple handwashing with soap.

GHD, marked every Oct. 15, is an international campaign by the UNICEF and the global Public-Private Partnership for Handwashing (PPPHW) to motivate and mobilize millions around the world to wash their hands with soap.

The first GHD took place on Oct. 15, 2008, the date appointed by the UN General Assembly in accordance with year 2008 as the International Year of Sanitation.

The theme for the first GHD was “Focus on School Children” that intended to get the maximum number of schoolchildren to hand wash with soap in more than 70 countries.

Unilever has committed its support for this year’s GHD campaign in the Philippines.

Chito Macapagal, Unilever’s vice president for corporate affairs, said the company will support the campaign through its Vaseline brand.

He said Unilever would provide soaps to schools.

Unilever employees and the Manila city government would lead some 1,000 students of the Paco Catholic School to promote handwashing on Saturday.

“As we celebrate the fifth year of Global Handwashing Day, we hope to make its impact bigger through our increasing number of partners,” said Macapagal.

Macapagal said GHD is part of Unilver’s global advocacy under its “Billion Better Lives” program which seeks to help one billion people worldwide improve their health and wellbeing by the end of 2012.