Clean Hands Save Lives

That's the theme of the first ever Global Handwashing Day, slated on October 15, 2008, exactly a month from now. The event for which at least 20 countries are expected to participate will bolster UN's call for better hygiene through practice of handwashing with soap.

A section of the Planner's Guide that has been issued is about the five facts about handwashing with soap. These fundamental five are as follows:

1. Washing hands with water alone is not enough.
   
2. Handwashing with soap can prevent diseases that kill millions of children every year.
   
3. The critical moments for handwashing with soap are after using the toilet or cleaning a child and before handling food.
   
4. Handwasing with soap is the single most cost-effective health intervention.
   
5. Social marketing approaches that center on the potential handwasher and his or her specific motivations are more effective than traditional diseased-focused approaches.