A new report by WHO and UNICEF, released on Global Handwashing Day, reveals that giving everyone in the world’s poorest countries access to handwashing with soap and water, would cost around $11 billion. That would transform the life-chances of people who are currently unable to simply wash their hands at home.
“Millions of lives could be saved and billions of dollars in untapped economic potential could be unlocked for the equivalent of just $1.40 per head of the global population”, says WaterAid.
As G20 leaders prepare to gather in Rome to improve pandemic preparedness, WaterAid warns that government investment must be made to provide handwashing for all as it plays a critical role in the fight against preventable diarrhoeal diseases and respiratory infections.
According to latest estimates from WHO and UNICEF, three in 10 people worldwide cannot wash with soap and water at home, and at current rates of progress, 1.9 billion people – families and children – will still be unable to so by 2030.