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)
(Visited 98 times, 1 visits today)

Related Articles

What we mean by an ‘Impact Business’

SaniTap is an Impact Venture. To us, this means that we exclusively engage in business activities that deliver tangible social and/or environmental impact – yet also deliver healthy financial returns. We want to see the impact of our work rippling out into society and the environment.

Read More »