National Handwashing Awareness Week December 2 - 8, 2012

Will Sawyer, MD is a Family Physician and the creator of the Henry the Hand Foundation and Henry the Hand Champion Handwasher.

Goal: To improve health by making us more aware of the role our hands play in the spread of disease.

Mission: To propagate Henry the Hand's 4 Principles of Hand Awareness throughout the United States and the world!
1. WASH your hands when they are dirty and BEFORE eating.
2. DO NOT cough into your hands.
3. DO NOT sneeze into your hands.
4. Above all, DO NOT put your fingers into your eyes, nose or mouth!

Henry the Hand Champion
Handwasher School Visit

Dr. Will has created a wonderful website for children and educators. The site contains posters, coloring books, school programs, tips on Food Safety and a lot more. Visit Henry the Handwashing Champion.

Resources and References

1. CDC, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Handwashing:Clean Hands Save Lives

2. Partnership for Food Safety Education, Fight BAC!  

3. The Scrub Club. A fun, interactive and educational Web site that teaches children the proper way to wash their hands. The site contains interactive games, educational music, downloadable activities for kids, educational materials for teachers and program information for parents.

4. Healthy Schools, Healthy People, It’s a SNAP!   (School Network for Absenteeism Prevention) program is a joint initiative of the CDC and American Cleaning Institute. This program seeks to improve hand hygiene habits to help prevent the spread of infectious disease and reduce related absenteeism. This grassroots, education-based effort can help improve health by making hand cleaning an integral part of the school day. Without proper hand cleaning, a single infection can quickly spread among students, teachers, family and friends.