Taguig schools to receive eco-friendly handwashing stations in support of Global Handwashing Day

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In celebration of Global Handwashing Day, Procter & Gamble (P&G) Philippines, the multinational company behind the number 1 anti-bacterial soap in the Philippines Safeguard, is donating eco-friendly handwashing stations to 19 schools in Taguig City as part of its commitment to bringing health and hygiene to Filipinos across the country.

From left to right: P&G Philippines Corporate Communications Manager King Martin Agoncillo, Head of Taguig City Health Office Dr. Norena Osano, Taguig City Health Office Executive Assistant for Health Dr. Cecille Montales, and School Governance and Operations Division (SGOD) OIC Chief Dr. Roldan Jamindang

Global Handwashing Day is celebrated every year, on October 15, which aims to promote the importance of proper handwashing with soap as an easy and effective way to prevent the spread of germs and keep communities safe from diseases. 

This initiative is part of P&G's #SafeWASH program in collaboration with Manila Water Foundation, which aims to strengthen efforts to promote the importance of proper handwashing with soap and water in schools. The project underscores the significance of WASH (water, sanitation, and hygiene) in schools, a commitment at the core of the joint project between the two organizations. The eco-friendly handwashing stations will be constructed in partnership with Green Antz Builders using eco-bricks, which are made by turning plastic waste into durable building blocks. 

“These eco-friendly handwashing stations will promote proper WASH habits that will help protect students and teachers from disease-causing bacteria and viruses while also championing sustainability, says King Martin Agoncillo, Corporate Communications Manager at P&G Philippines. 

Sample eco-bricks that will be used to construct the 19 eco-friendly handwashing stations.

In another Global Handwashing Day Celebration, P&G supported Pasig LGU’s "Apir Tayo, Pasigueno! Global Handwashing Day Fair 2023" in partnership with Manila Water Foundation, benefitting over 1,000 Pasiguenos, including PWDs, 4Ps beneficiaries, Muslim market vendors, enforcers, and health workers.

P&G has been a consistent partner of MWF since 2020 in providing students with quality handwashing facilities; promoting health and hygiene through good handwashing practices. The partnership has since constructed 285 handwashing stations, reaching over 1 million students, teachers, and other school staff in over 285 schools in Metro Manila. 

Handwashing rates lowest in low-income countries; Lack of access to hygiene could endanger new Development Agenda

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Handwashing with soap is dangerously low in many countries, UNICEF reports, despite its proven benefits to child health.

The eighth Global Handwashing Day comes less than a month after the United Nations adopted the Sustainable Development Goals, including hygiene for the first time in the global agenda. One of the SDG targets is to achieve ‘access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene’ by 2030. 

UNICEF says improvements in hygiene must supplement access to water and sanitation, or children will continue to fall victim to easily preventable diseases like diarrhoea. 

“Along with drinking water and access to toilets, hygiene – particularly handwashing with soap – is the essential third leg of the stool holding up the Goal on water and sanitation,” said Sanjay Wijesekera, global head of UNICEF’s water, sanitation and hygiene programmes. “From birth – when unwashed hands of birth attendants can transmit dangerous pathogens – right through babyhood, school and beyond, handwashing is crucial for a child’s health. It is one of the cheapest, simplest, most effective health interventions we have.”

Sub-Saharan Africa, the region with the highest child mortality rates globally, also has particularly low levels of handwashing. The latest report from UNICEF and WHO says that in 38 countries in the region with available data, levels are at best 50 per cent. Health care facilities often lack handwashing places;some 42 per cent of them in WHO’s Africa Region have no water source available within 500 metres.

Meanwhile, according to the UN’s latest estimates, over 800 of the approximately 1,400 child deaths from diarrhoea each day can be attributed to inadequate water, sanitation or hygiene. 

“Infants are especially vulnerable during their first 1,000 days of life, which is why handwashing with soap before breastfeeding, before preparing and eating food, and before feeding young children is so critical,” explains Lotta Sylwander, UNICEF Representative in the Philippines. 

A survey conducted by the Food and Nutrition Research Institute found that only 25 percent of mothers with children aged zero to 35 months wash their hands with soap after using a latrine;and as few as 14 percent of mothers wash their hands with soap before feeding their children. These factors put Filipino children at increased risk of diarrhoea, intestinal worms, and malnutrition. 

In the Philippines,the Department of Education encourages all division districts nationwide to organise school-based activities to celebrate Global Handwashing Day. City governments, schools and day care centres around the country will participate in parades, poster making competitions, poetry and song writing contests;andhandwashing demonstrations.

The Department of Health, with support from UNICEF and CHSI, launched the initial rollout of a new communications campaign (Goodbye Dumi, Hello Healthy) to strengthen the use of improved sanitation and hygiene practices, in selected regions. 

About Global Handwashing Day:

Global Handwashing Day is celebrated on October 15. The Global Public-Private Partnership for Handwashing with Soap initiated Global Handwashing Day in 2008, and it is endorsed by governments, international institutions, civil society organisations, NGOs, private companies and individuals around the globe. Visit www.globalhandwashingday.org

About UNICEF

UNICEF promotes the rights and wellbeing of every child, in everything we do. Together with our partners, we work in 190 countries and territories to translate that commitment into practical action, focusing special effort on reaching the most vulnerable and excluded children, to the benefit of all children, everywhere.

Please visit UNICEF Philippines at http://www.unicef.ph or follow us on Facebook at /unicefphilippines and on Twitter at /unicefphils.

Manila Water Foundation upholds importance of proper handwashing

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Manila Water Foundation, the additional corporate social responsibility arm of East Zone concessionaire Manila Water Company for areas outside Metro Manila, visited different parts of the archipelago spreading the value of handwashing as part of proper hygiene and healthcare. The Foundation joined over 100 countries, involving more than 200 million people across five continents in celebrating the 2013 Global Handwashing Day.

Carla Beriña-Kim, Executive Director of Manila Water Foundation, imparts that handwashing serves as an easy and cost-effective measure in preventing different infections and diseases. “This simple task can lower the number of people affected by fast-spreading illnesses that take a toll not only on one’s health, but also on the family’s budget. When done properly, regularly and collectively, handwashing can create healthier communities”, says Beriña-Kim.

On its first year to lead a series of events for the Global Handwashing Day in the Philippines, Manila Water Foundation staged a week-long celebration that saw more than 7,000 people participating in its activities. Students, teachers, and school personnel from different schools in Metro Manila, Pampanga, Laguna, and Boracay Island were visited by the Foundation, informing them on the proper way of washing one’s hands and how responsibly transforming this into a habit may reduce vulnerability to different health risks and infections. 

Partakers were encouraged to stamp their handprints on the pledge wall to signify their commitment to practice proper handwashing and to encourage their family and friends to do the same. In a move to further its advocacy, Manila Water Foundation extended its efforts by setting up booths that deliver information on the benefits of handwashing in Trinoma Mall in Quezon City, Pavillion Mall in Biñan, Laguna, Nuvali in Sta. Rosa, Laguna and Marquee Mall in Angeles, Pampanga. Participants showed their support to the cause by contributing in the pledge sticker wall. As its culminating event, the Foundation conducted an information and education drive at the Boracay Beach Front Station One and enjoined tourists and locals alike to practice proper handwashing.

The successful celebration was co-presented by Manila Water, Laguna Water, Clark Water, Boracay Water, and supported by the Department of Education, Globe Telecom, Ayala Malls, Unilever (Vaseline as official soap sponsor), Universal Robina Corporation (Granny Goose Tortillos, Mang Juan, Hunt’s and Refresh), Unilab (RiteMed and Ceelin Plus) and Enchanted Kingdom, as well as media partners, The Philippine Star, Business World, Health Today and Working Mom.