October 15, Global Handwashing Day

Global Handwashing Day 2012 will involve millions of people in over 100 countries around the world. Global Handwashing Day (GHD) was created to:
• Foster and support a global culture of handwashing with soap.
• Shine a spotlight on the state of handwashing in every country.
• Raise awareness about the benefits of handwashing with soap.

Why Handwashing with Soap?

Handwashing with soap is the most effective and inexpensive way to prevent diarrheal and acute respiratory infections, which take the lives of millions of children in developing countries every year. Together, they are responsible for the majority of all child deaths. Yet, despite its lifesaving potential, handwashing with soap is seldom practiced and difficult to promote.

Turning handwashing with soap before eating and after using the toilet into a habit could save more lives than any single vaccine or medical intervention, cutting deaths from diarrhea by almost half and deaths from acute respiratory infections by one-quarter. A vast change in handwashing behavior is critical to meeting the Millennium Development Goal of reducing deaths among children under the age of five by two-thirds by 2015.

Global Handwashing Day focuses on children because they suffer the most from diarrheal and respiratory diseases and deaths, but research shows that children can also be powerful agents for changing behaviors like handwashing with soap in their communities.

When should you wash your hands?
·         Before, during, and after preparing food
·         Before eating food
·         Before and after caring for someone who is sick
·         Before and after treating a cut or wound
·         After using the toilet
·         After changing diapers or cleaning up a child who has used the toilet
·         After blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing
·         After touching an animal or animal waste
·         After touching garbage
 

For more information on handwashing with soap, including research, tools, and news visit www.globalhandwashing.org.

The Global Handwashing Day's theme video with
instructions for children on how to wash their hands properly.

It’s In Your Hands

Resources and References

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

2. Global Handwashing Day

3. Kids Eat Right, Hand-washing Basics

4. Partnership for Food Safety Education, Fight BAC!

5. 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.

6. 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.

The Art of Hand Washing CDC Foundation showcases the work of artists who interpret the act of hand washing

The exhibit is called Watching Hands. Sponsored by Georgia Pacific and the CDC Foundation, and curated by Louise E. Shaw, CDC Museum Curator, this exhibit show cases the work of six artists who interpret the act of hand washing through painting, drawing, graphic design, sculpture, installation, and new media.

The artists include John Bankston (San Francisco); Didi Dunphy (Athens, GA); Joe Peragine (Atlanta); Katherine L. Ross (Chicago); Laura Splan (Brooklyn, NY); and James Victore (Brooklyn, NY).

The exhibit is located at the David J. Sencer CDC Museum in Association with the Smithsonian Institution and runs from September 24, 2011 – January 13, 2012.

A look at the Artists

Laura Splan.  "Surface Tension" by New York-based mixed-media artist and biologist Laura Splan, is a series of paintings that allude to the invisible worlds that are at play as we wash our hands. The drawings of hands and microbes underlie a latent image of bubbles rendered in enMotion® foam hand soap provided by Georgia-Pacific Professional. Each of the twelve paintings depicts hands in a different position of proper handwashing as recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Katherine L. Ross.  Katherine L. Ross is a conceptual artist who uses ceramics as her primary medium to create haunting site-specific installations. Currently the chair of the Ceramics Department at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC), she is concerned with the psychology of water, cleansing, hygiene and contamination. In "Water Cure," a mound of over 1300 porcelain bars of soap lies on the floor.

John Bankston.  John Bankston, a self-declared storyteller and visual novelist based in San Francisco, uses the visual structures of children's coloring books to create fantastical stories exploring personal identities and inner worlds. In "Magic Handwashing," Bankston's protagonist, Donkey Boy, finds himself in a dilemma when his hands are turned into claws after immersing them into a glowing puddle. Only through the help of many fantastical friends does Donkey Boy restore his hands when he learns how to wash them properly.

Didi Dunphy.   Athens, Georgia-based artist Didi Dunphy's enthusiastic willingness to explore healthy handwashing habits through the filter of fun has resulted in "Bubbles, Bubbles"  -an installation that is as motivating as it is delightful. A design vocabulary of iconic figures and handwashing-related objects silhouetted within brightly colored polka dots has been translated to Dunphy's signature vinyl cut-outs, paper towels dispensed from Georgia-Pacific Professional's enMotion® automated touchless towel dispenser and relevant videos accessed through smartphones.

James Victore.  A self-declared independent designer based in New York, James Victore's participation in Watching Hands is a nod to the importance of good design in public health communications, as well as acknowledgement of the blurring of lines between design and fine art. His poster series, "Washing Hands: The single most important means of preventing the spread of infection," features hands overlaid with bubble images of various pathogens, such as influenza and E.coli, that can be transmitted by not washing one's hands.

Joe Peragine.  Joe Peragine is an Atlanta-based artist who uses painting, sculpture and animation to make deeply personal and often poignant associations between the everyday and the human condition. His multidisciplinary installation, "Easiest, cheapest, needfull'st," is surprisingly comforting, as he captures the soulfulness of our daily handwashing routines, as well as a sense of a shared human experience.

Keeping hands clean through improved hand hygiene is one of the most important steps we can take to avoid getting sick and spreading germs to others. Many diseases and conditions are spread by not washing hands with soap and clean, running water. If clean, running water is not accessible, as is common in many parts of the world, use soap and available water. If soap and water are unavailable, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol to clean hands.

Global Handwashing Day October 15th

Global Handwashing Day 2010 will focus around schools and children. Encouraging communities to plan activities surrounfing playgrounds, classrooms, community centers and public areas.

Global Handwashing Day will involve millions of people in more than 80 countries across all five continents to wash their hands with soap.

Of the approximately 120 million children born in the developing world each year, half will live in households without access to improved sanitation. Poor hygiene and lack of access to sanitation together contribute to about 88% of deaths from diarrheal diseases.

The goal is to make handwashing with soap an automatic behavior.  This one act can save more lives than any single vaccine or medical intervention, cutting deaths from diarrhea by almost half and deaths from acute respiratory infections by one-quarter.

The main objectives of this global celebration are:
• Foster and support a global and local culture of handwashing with soap.
• Shine a spotlight on the state of handwashing in each country.
• Raise awareness about the benefits of handwashing with soap.

The Global Handwashing Day's theme video with
instructions for children on how to wash their hands properly.

It’s In Your Hands