Global Handwashing Day is observed every year on:

Global Handwashing Day is observed every year on 15 October to raise awareness about the importance of washing hands with soap as a simple, effective and affordable way to prevent diseases.

About Global Handwashing Day:

• It was started in 2008 by the Global Handwashing Partnership (then called the Public-Private Partnership for Handwashing with Soap).
• 2008 was also declared the "International Year of Sanitation" by the United Nations.
• On the first Global Handwashing Day, over 120 million children in more than 70 countries washed their hands with soap.

Why handwashing matters:

• Washing hands with soap and water removes germs and can greatly reduce diarrhoeal diseases and respiratory infections such as pneumonia, which are major causes of death among children under five.
• It is especially important before eating or preparing food, after using the toilet, and after caring for a sick person.
• The importance of handwashing became widely recognised during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Hand hygiene pioneers:

Ignaz Semmelweis, a Hungarian doctor, showed in the 1840s that handwashing by doctors greatly reduced deaths of mothers from childbed fever. He is called the "Saviour of mothers".

Related days:

• World Hand Hygiene Day (WHO): 5 May, focusing on hand hygiene in health care.
• World Toilet Day: 19 November.
• World Health Day: 7 April (WHO's foundation day).

Other days on 15 October:

World Students' Day: the birth anniversary of Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam (born 15 October 1931).

White Cane Safety Day: raises awareness about the white cane used by blind and visually impaired people.

International Day of Rural Women: also observed on 15 October (UN).

In India, the Swachh Bharat Mission (launched on 2 October 2014) promotes sanitation and hygiene, including handwashing.

Why not the other options?

• ✗5 May is World Hand Hygiene Day.
• ✗7 April is World Health Day.
• ✗19 November is World Toilet Day.