Cropped hands of mother assisting girl while washing hands at bathroom sink

Global Handwashing Day is just weeks away, so now is a good time for industry members to begin preparing plans for the annual event.

Held every year on Oct. 15, Global Handwashing Day was developed to encourage people to wash their hands with soap and water properly when needed. The event first took place in 2008 and involved 120 million child handwashers from more than 70 countries, according to the event website. Since then, groups and individuals have come together to provide handwashing education and build sinks.

The theme for 2019 Global Handwashing Day is to promote inclusiveness in handwashing disparities, so that more people have access to handwashing facilities and handwashing education.

Visit globalhandwashing.org to learn about Global Handwashing Day events from around the world and to access tools to plan a Global Handwashing Day event.