More than 2 million children worldwide die of diarrhea every year, says the World Health Organization, yet the simple act of handwashing is the most cost-effective way of saving half of them.

“Although people around the world wash their hands with water, far fewer wash their hands with soap at critical moments–after using the toilet, after cleaning a child, and before handling food,” says United Nations Children’s Fund representative Vanessa Tobin. “They don’t realize that handwashing is a life-saving habit that can prevent the death of millions of children.”

Tobin further reveals a grim reality: all over the world, and particularly in developing countries, the observed rates of handwashing with soap among families is only up to 34 percent. Some of the reasons behind this are poverty-related, such as poor access to water, basic sanitation facilities, and poor hygiene practices. One bigger reason is that the nonwashing of hands seems to be a practice handed down from parents.

Aside from handwashing, access to toilet facilities and clean water can reduce diarrhea-related diseases by a third. Moreover, better sanitation combined with improved personal hygiene habits, including handwashing and bathing, can reduce such diseases by two-thirds.

UNICEF and its partners worldwide aim to promote the habit of washing hands with the Global Handwashing Day on October 15, 2008. The rewards are encouraging and enormous: improved attendance among healthier children and better growth and resistance to infections.

In the Philippines, UNICEF teams up with Procter and Gamble Philippines, the Department of Health, and the Department of Education. P&G, the manufacturer of germicidal family soap Safeguard, recently implemented the Protect 5 Handwashing Program, a nationwide project that teaches children proper handwashing with soap.

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UNICEF, Safeguard Launch Global Handwashing Day