
Every year on 15 October, the world marks International Handwashing Day — a reminder of how something as simple as washing our hands can save lives.
First celebrated in 2008, this day is not only about awareness but about action: making hygiene a universal habit and ensuring that no one is left behind.

Hand hygiene remains one of the most effective ways to prevent disease. Research shows that regular handwashing with soap can reduce diarrheal illnesses by about 30 % and respiratory infections by around 20 %.
Yet for many, proper handwashing is not possible. Around 2.1 billion people still lack access to safe drinking water, and roughly 3.5 billion people live without adequate sanitation.
Without these basic conditions, consistent hand hygiene is an unattainable goal.

Why does handwashing matter so deeply? Our hands connect us to the world — we touch, we build, we care, and in doing so, we also carry.
Pathogens use these same connections, moving invisibly from surfaces, objects, or other people. By interrupting this chain through proper washing with soap and water, we dramatically reduce the risk of infection.
But knowledge alone is not enough. In many regions, soap is a luxury, used sparingly or reserved for cooking and laundry.
Some communities use alternatives such as ash or reused soapy water when real soap is unavailable — resourceful acts that speak to resilience, but also to inequity. Hygiene should never depend on circumstance.

International Handwashing Day calls on us to act. Hygiene is not a privilege — it is a right.
Governments, organizations, and individuals must work together to ensure that water, soap, and hygiene facilities are accessible everywhere: in schools, health centers, workplaces, and homes.
We must invest in infrastructure, strengthen education, and make hygiene a matter of dignity, not wealth.

Handwashing is not a small gesture — it is an act of care, of respect, of prevention.
When we make clean hands the norm, we build not only a healthier world, but also a fairer one.
Yours
sincerely
