The Kingdom, in cooperation with the private sector, observed Global Handwashing Day on Wednesday.

The day focuses on children, who not only suffer disproportionately from diarrhea, respiratory diseases and deaths, but also serve as powerful agents for changing behaviors within communities.

Global Handwashing Day was originally launched to spread hygiene awareness among schoolchildren with the help of multinational Unilever, which has popular hand soap brand Lifebuoy.

“Simple hygiene measures, such as washing hands with soap, are effective and inexpensive ways to prevent the transmission of infectious diseases that are particularly deadly for children under five,” said Khaled Fayed, managing director of Unilever KSA.

“Diarrhea and pneumonia account for almost 3.5 million child deaths every year. This can be prevented through behavioral changes, such as regularly washing hands with soap.”

Every year, over 200 million people are involved in celebrations in over 100 countries around the world.

The day is endorsed by a wide array of governments, international institutions, civil society organizations, nongovernmental organizations, private companies and individuals.

“We want to inspire every individual to take little measures, such as washing hands with soap, which can make a big difference for public health,” said Muhannad Al-Zahrani, community awareness programs administrator for public health awareness management at the Ministry of Health.

He pointed out that everyone can help spread awareness by telling friends and family about the importance of regularly washing their hands with soap. “It’s an important, lifesaving habit,” he said.

The Ministry of Health, in cooperation with the Saudi Environment Society (SENS) and Unilever, one of the world’s leading FMCG companies, reached out to children with a hygiene message on the day.

Ali Mohammed Hatami from the Saudi Environment Society said the initiatives are essential for spreading awareness about the importance of washing hands.

“This is not our first collaboration with Unilever, as we both share responsibility toward our society and are always eager to play our part in sending health messages to the audience.”

In the past few months, he said the society has partnered with Unilever to spread awareness to more than a million people, educating them about how hand washing can help protect them from Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV).

“Today, we continue this successful partnership as we target schools and children with one goal in mind, which is creating a difference in their everyday life to guarantee their health and well-being,” he noted.

Unilever took part by visiting 10 schools to educate more than 2,800 children about the importance of washing hands in Jeddah.

The initiative was held in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and the Saudi Environment Society.

On Wednesday, Unilever visited five primary girls schools and an equal number of boys schools to inculcate the habit of hand washing to ward off infectious diseases.

The delegation specifically targeted early elementary students at primary schools with the aim of helping young children develop life-saving hygiene habits early in life.

Each school visit included a short lecture on personal hygiene by officials of the Ministry of Health as part of the “your hygiene is your health” program. Unilever representatives also demonstrated proper, effective hand washing techniques using portable Lifebuoy units. Finally, memory recall was facilitated through entertaining hygiene-related activities and games for the children.

“Unilever’s school outreach program in the Kingdom is part of a global initiative to counter the spread of easily preventable infectious diseases through simple hygiene measures that become habit,” said Ageel Angawi, vice president of marketing for home care at Unilever MENA.