What is Global Handwashing Day?
[[File:Global Handwashing Day (emblem).svg|thumb|Emblem used for Global Handwashing Day around the world.]] '''Global Handwashing Day''' is a campaign to encourage people around the world to [[hand washing|wash their hands]] with [[soap]]. It takes place on [[October 15]] of each year. The campaign's goal is to raise awareness of [[handwashing]] with soap as a key way to [[preventive medicine|prevent diseases]] with [[hygiene]]. The holiday was made at the annual World Water Week 2008, which was held in [[Stockholm]] from August 17 to 23. Out of this week came the [[Public-private partnership|Public Private Partnership]] for Handwashing (PPPHW). The Global Handwashing Day took place for the first time on October 15, 2008, the date appointed by [[United Nations General Assembly]] to go along with the year 2008 as the [[International Year of Sanitation]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.who.int/gpsc/events/2008/15_10_08/en/index.html |title=WHO Global Handwashing Day |access-date=2011-04-25 |archive-date=2011-05-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110518220812/http://www.who.int/gpsc/events/2008/15_10_08/en/index.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> The theme for Global Handwashing Day’s inaugural year was Focus on School Children. The members pledged to get the maximum number of school children handwashing with soap in more than seventy countries. ==References== <references /> ==Other websites== * [http://www.globalhandwashingday.org Official site for Global Handwashing Day] * [http://www.wsp.org World Bank Sanitation Program] * [http://www.unicef.org UNICEF] [[Category:Hygiene]]