Global Handwashing Day - supported by Teal

October 15th is Global Handwashing Day and TEAL is one of a group of organisations involved in promoting the event in the UK.

As the country’s leading manufacturer of portable hot water hand wash units, the Birmingham-based company has joined forces with the Health Protection Agency, UNICEF, the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and a number of other companies and charities to encourage people to get into the habit of washing their hands with soap.

Global Handwashing Day is targeting schools and children - with activities being organised all around the world to encourage proper handwashing practices.

The challenge is to transform handwashing with soap from an abstract good idea into an automatic behavior performed in homes, schools, workplaces and communities worldwide. This would save more lives than any vaccine or medical intervention.

Disease prevention

Handwashing with soap is among the most effective ways to prevent diarrheal diseases and pneumonia, which together are responsible for the majority of child deaths. In fact, every year more than 3.5 million children do not live to celebrate their fifth birthday because of diarrhea and pneumonia.

A competition was held last year for youngsters in the UK to design a poster promoting hand washing with soap. As part of their prize the winners will be presented with a TEAL portable hot water hand wash unit for their school during the main event of this year’s Global Handwashing Day – a film festival in London.

The Golden Poo Awards is a competition for animators to produce short films which tackle the serious issues of sanitation and / or hygiene in an edgy, irreverent and humorous way. This red carpet event is being held in at The Prince Charles Cinema, Leicester Place, London and promises to be a hilarious evening of comedy hosted by Dr Phil Hammond from TV’s “Have I Got News for You” and Private Eye magazine.

Find out more

To find out more log on to www.globalhandwashingday.org.uk where you can also download a specially designed handwashing poster aimed at adults and young people.

Another free poster showing children how to wash their hands properly with soap is available on TEAL’s nursery and pre-school handwashing web site.

Logo and image courtesy of www.globalhandwashingday.org