Handwashing: The Harsh Facts and Figures

Handwashing: The Harsh Facts and Figures

  • 3 out of 10 people, 2.3 billion, lack a handwashing facility with water and soap at home, including 670 million who have no access to a handwashing facility at all. (WHO/UNICEF 2021)
  • 700 children die every day from diseases linked to unsafe water, sanitation and hygiene. (WHO/UNICEF 2021)
  • 818 million children lack a handwashing facility with water and soap at their school.(WHO/UNICEF 2021)
  • 462 million children attend schools with no handwashing facilities at all. (WHO/UNICEF 2021)
  • 1 in 3 healthcare facilities does not have access to hand hygiene where care is provided. Almost 2 billion people depend on health care facilities without basic water services.
  • It is estimated that half a million people die each year from diarrhoea or acute respiratory infections which could have been prevented with timely and thorough hand hygiene. (WHO/UNICEF 2021)
  • Timely hand hygiene prevents up to 50 per cent of avoidable infections acquired during health care delivery, including those affecting the health workforce.
    (WHO/UNICEF 2021)
  • Over the past five years, half a billion people have gained access to basic hand hygiene facilities – a rate of 300,000 per day. (WHO/UNICEF 2021)
  • Hygiene promotion is the most cost effective health intervention. (World Bank 2016)
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