Myriam Sidibe: The simple power of handwashing

Summary

The speaker passionately addresses the preventable deaths of millions of children under five, emphasizing the power of a simple bar of soap in reducing diseases like diarrhea and pneumonia. They highlight the importance of handwashing as a cost-effective life-saving habit, urging the private sector to leverage their influence in promoting this practice. The talk calls for collective action on Global Handwashing Day and the role of businesses in shaping social norms for better public health outcomes.

Takeaways

• 😢 Millions of children under five die each year from preventable causes, with diarrhea and pneumonia being the top two killers.
• 🤲 The simple act of washing hands with soap can significantly reduce the risk of these diseases and is a cost-effective way to save children's lives.
• 🌐 Despite the availability of soap in many households, cultural habits and perceptions often prevent its regular use for handwashing.
• 🏠 Children are particularly vulnerable to disease in their homes, which should be their safest environment.
• 👶 Early habits, such as handwashing, are hard to change but are crucial for preventing disease.
• 🌟 Iconic brands and the private sector have a significant role in promoting handwashing and can influence social norms.
• 🎓 The speaker has a strong educational background in public health and is dedicated to the mission of promoting handwashing with soap.
• 📈 There is a correlation between business growth in soap sales and a reduction in child mortality in areas where soap use has increased.
• 🎉 Global Handwashing Day is an opportunity for public and private sectors to unite in promoting this essential public health intervention.
• 🎥 Creative campaigns, like 'Help a Child Reach 5', use compelling storytelling to communicate the importance of handwashing to a wide audience.
• 🎁 Soap is presented as a meaningful gift for new mothers, emphasizing its role in nurturing and protecting newborns.

Q & A

What is the alarming statistic mentioned about children not reaching their fifth birthday?

6.6 million children never make it to their fifth birthday, with 60 planes full of babies under five crashing every day as a metaphor for the scale of this tragedy.

Why does the speaker express anger and determination about child mortality rates?

The speaker is angered and determined because most of these child deaths are preventable through simple measures such as handwashing with soap.

Which two diseases are mentioned as the top killers of children under five?

Diarrhea and pneumonia are the top two killers of children under the age of five.

How effective is handwashing with soap in preventing certain diseases?

Handwashing with soap can reduce diarrhea by half and respiratory infections by one third.

What is the impact of handwashing with soap on public health interventions?

Handwashing with soap is one of the most cost-effective ways of saving children's lives, potentially saving over 600,000 children every year.

What is the global statistic regarding handwashing after using the toilet?

Four out of five people globally do not wash their hands when they come out of the toilet.

Why do some households not use soap for handwashing as frequently as needed?

In some households, soap is considered a precious commodity and is used for multiple purposes, including bathing and laundry, leading to infrequent handwashing.

What role does the private sector play in promoting handwashing with soap?

The private sector, particularly brands like Lifebuoy, has a responsibility to promote handwashing with soap and can change social norms through their marketing efforts.

How does the speaker's background in public health influence her current work?

The speaker's background in public health, including a doctorate in handwashing with soap, has led her to work in promoting soap as a public health intervention, aiming to reach one billion people by 2020.

What is the significance of Global Handwashing Day celebrated on October 15?

Global Handwashing Day is a day when schools, communities, public and private sectors come together to celebrate and promote the importance of handwashing as a public health intervention.

How does the speaker suggest we can support new mothers and their families?

The speaker suggests that a simple yet impactful gift for new mothers and their families is soap, as it is a crucial tool in nurturing newborns and preventing diseases.

Outlines

00:00

😷 The Power of Soap in Preventing Child Mortality

The first paragraph of the video script highlights the shocking statistic that 6.6 million children under the age of five die each year, with many of these deaths being preventable. The speaker emphasizes the importance of handwashing with soap, a simple yet effective habit that can significantly reduce the risk of diseases like diarrhea and pneumonia, which are among the leading causes of death in children under five. The script points out that handwashing with soap is a cost-effective intervention that can save over 600,000 lives annually, comparing its impact to preventing the daily crash of 10 jumbo jets filled with children. The speaker also addresses the cultural and behavioral barriers to handwashing, such as the perception of soap as a precious commodity in some households, and the role of private sector brands like Lifebuoy in promoting hygiene and changing social norms.

05:00

🌟 Leveraging Brands for Public Health Advocacy

The second paragraph discusses the role of iconic brands in promoting public health, particularly the example of Unilever's Lifebuoy brand, which has a history of combating cholera since its inception in 1894. The speaker argues that big businesses have the power to shift social norms and influence habits, such as handwashing, through compelling marketing messages. The script mentions the ongoing cholera outbreak in Ghana and the importance of soap in preventing the disease's spread. It also touches on the challenges faced by governments in promoting public health and the need for sustained funding and advocacy. The speaker calls for a win-win-win partnership between the public, private sectors, and vulnerable communities, culminating in the celebration of Global Handwashing Day and the promotion of campaigns like 'Help a Child Reach 5' to raise awareness and change behaviors.

10:02

🤱 The Impact of Soap on Newborn Survival and Maternal Health

In the final paragraph, the speaker shares personal stories of mothers who have experienced the loss of a newborn, emphasizing the emotional impact and the potential for prevention through simple measures like providing soap to skilled birth attendants. The script suggests that the use of soap before handling newborns can significantly reduce infant mortality rates. The speaker, who has a background in public health and a doctorate in handwashing with soap, shares her mission to promote soap as a vital tool in public health. She highlights the success of the world's largest handwashing program, which has reached over 183 million people across 16 countries, and expresses an ambitious goal to reach one billion people by 2020. The paragraph concludes with a call to action for the audience to incorporate handwashing into their daily routines and to consider soap as a meaningful gift for new mothers, ultimately aiming to help more children celebrate their fifth birthday.

Keywords

💡Preventable Deaths

Preventable deaths refer to fatalities that could be avoided through timely and effective interventions. In the context of the video, it emphasizes the tragic reality that most of the 6.6 million children who do not reach their fifth birthday die from causes that are preventable, such as diarrhea and pneumonia, highlighting the urgency and potential for saving lives through simple measures like handwashing.

💡Handwashing with Soap

Handwashing with soap is a fundamental hygiene practice that involves using soap and water to clean one's hands. The video underscores its importance as a simple yet powerful method to reduce the incidence of diseases like diarrhea and respiratory infections, thereby preventing many child deaths. It is presented as a cost-effective public health intervention that can save over 600,000 children every year.

💡Diarrhea

Diarrhea is a condition characterized by loose, watery bowel movements. In the video, it is mentioned as one of the top two killers of children under five. The script illustrates how handwashing with soap can reduce diarrhea by half, emphasizing the direct link between this common ailment and the importance of hygiene practices in preventing child mortality.

💡Pneumonia

Pneumonia is an infection that inflames the air sacs in one or both lungs. It is identified in the video as another leading cause of death among children under five. The script points out that handwashing with soap can also reduce respiratory infections like pneumonia by one third, showcasing the broad preventative impact of this hygiene habit.

💡Hygiene

Hygiene refers to the set of practices that help maintain health and prevent disease, especially by preventing the spread of germs. The video's theme revolves around the importance of hygiene, particularly handwashing with soap, as a means to prevent diseases and save children's lives, making it a central concept in the narrative.

💡Cultural Norms

Cultural norms are the unwritten rules and expectations within a society that influence behavior. The video discusses how local cultural norms can affect hygiene practices, such as handwashing, and the role of the private sector in shifting these norms towards better health practices, as seen in the example of soap advertisements influencing hygiene behaviors.

💡Private Sector

The private sector encompasses businesses and corporations that operate independently of government control. In the video, the private sector is highlighted as a key player in promoting handwashing with soap and changing social norms around hygiene. Brands like Lifebuoy are mentioned as having a responsibility and the power to influence health outcomes through their marketing efforts.

💡Public Health Intervention

A public health intervention is any organized effort to improve the health of a community or population. The video presents handwashing with soap as a critical public health intervention, capable of saving a significant number of children's lives by preventing the spread of infectious diseases.

💡Global Handwashing Day

Global Handwashing Day is an annual international day dedicated to raising awareness about the importance of handwashing with soap to prevent diseases. The video mentions this day as a moment when various sectors, including schools, communities, and businesses, come together to promote this simple yet effective health practice.

💡Profit Motive

The profit motive refers to the drive of businesses to generate income or profit. The video suggests that the profit motive can be harnessed for social good, as seen in the case of soap companies promoting handwashing with soap, which not only increases their sales but also contributes to improving public health.

💡Behavioral Change

Behavioral change involves modifying habits and practices to achieve desired outcomes. The video discusses the difficulty of changing ingrained habits like handwashing and how the private sector, through marketing and education, can influence these behaviors to promote better hygiene and reduce child mortality.

Highlights

250 children die in a plane crash scenario metaphor, highlighting the scale of preventable child deaths.

6.6 million children never make it to their fifth birthday, most deaths being preventable.

Diarrhea and pneumonia are among the top killers of children under five.

Handwashing with soap can reduce diarrhea by half and respiratory infections by one third.

Handwashing with soap can prevent diseases like flu, trachoma, SARS, cholera, and Ebola.

Handwashing with soap keeps kids in school and stops babies from dying.

Handwashing with soap can save over 600,000 children every year, equivalent to stopping 10 jumbo jets from crashing daily.

Statistics show that four out of five people globally do not wash their hands after using the toilet.

In countries with high child mortality, soap is often available but not used for handwashing due to cultural norms and economic reasons.

Soap is often seen as a precious commodity and used sparingly in many households.

Changing handwashing habits requires influence from local cultural norms and the private sector.

Iconic brands like Lifebuoy play a significant role in promoting handwashing and hygiene.

The private sector's profit motive can be a powerful force for improving public health outcomes.

The Lifebuoy brand was launched in 1894 to combat cholera, and handwashing remains a key intervention for diseases like cholera and Ebola.

Public health efforts rely on sustained funding and support from the private sector to promote handwashing habits.

Global Handwashing Day on October 15 brings together various stakeholders to promote handwashing.

Unilever's Help a Child Reach 5 campaign uses compelling films to promote handwashing and has reached over 30 million views.

Unilever's handwashing program has reached over 183 million people in 16 countries and aims to reach one billion by 2020.

Business growth and lives saved are interconnected, enabling continued public health efforts.

Handwashing with soap can significantly reduce newborn mortality, especially in the first month of life.

Providing soap to skilled birth attendants can help reduce newborn mortality.

Promoting handwashing is crucial to ensuring more children reach their fifth birthday.

Transcripts

So imagine that a plane is about to crash

with 250 children and babies,

and if you knew how to stop that, would you?

Now imagine

that 60 planes full of babies under five

crash every single day.

That's the number of kids

that never make it to their fifth birthday.

6.6 million children

never make it to their fifth birthday.

Most of these deaths are preventable,

and that doesn't just make me sad,

it makes me angry,

and it makes me determined.

Diarrhea and pneumonia

are among the top two killers

of children under five,

and what we can do to prevent these diseases

isn't some smart,

new technological innovations.

It's one of the world's oldest inventions:

a bar of soap.

Washing hands with soap,

a habit we all take for granted,

can reduce diarrhea by half,

can reduce respiratory infections by one third.

Handwashing with soap

can have an impact

on reducing flu, trachoma, SARS,

and most recently in the case of cholera

and Ebola outbreak,

one of the key interventions

is handwashing with soap.

Handwashing with soap keeps kids in school.

It stops babies from dying.

Handwashing with soap

is one of the most cost-effective

ways of saving children's lives.

It can save over 600,000 children every year.

That's the equivalent of stopping

10 jumbo jets

full of babies and children

from crashing every single day.

I think you'll agree with me that that's a pretty

useful public health intervention.

So now just take a minute.

I think you need to get to know the person next to you.

Why don't you just shake their hands.

Please shake their hands.

All right, get to know each other.

They look really pretty.

All right.

So what if I told you

that the person whose hands you just shook

actually didn't wash their hands

when they were coming out of the toilet? (Laughter)

They don't look so pretty anymore, right?

Pretty yucky, you would agree with me.

Well, statistics are actually showing

that four people out of five

don't wash their hands when they come out of the toilet,

globally.

And the same way,

we don't do it when we've got fancy toilets,

running water, and soap available,

it's the same thing in the countries

where child mortality is really high.

What is it? Is there no soap?

Actually, soap is available.

In 90 percent of households in India,

94 percent of households in Kenya,

you will find soap.

Even in countries where soap is the lowest,

like Ethiopia, we are at 50 percent.

So why is it?

Why aren't people washing their hands?

Why is it that Mayank,

this young boy that I met in India,

isn't washing his hands?

Well, in Mayank's family,

soap is used for bathing,

soap is used for laundry,

soap is used for washing dishes.

His parents think sometimes

it's a precious commodity,

so they'll keep it in a cupboard.

They'll keep it away from him so he doesn't waste it.

On average, in Mayank's family,

they will use soap for washing hands

once a day

at the very best, and sometimes

even once a week for washing hands with soap.

What's the result of that?

Children pick up disease

in the place that's supposed to love them

and protect them the most, in their homes.

Think about where you learned to wash your hands.

Did you learn to wash your hands at home?

Did you learn to wash your hands in school?

I think behavioral scientists will tell you

that it's very difficult to change the habits

that you have had early in life.

However, we all copy what everyone else does,

and local cultural norms are something

that shape how we change our behavior,

and this is where the private sector comes in.

Every second in Asia and Africa,

111 mothers

will buy this bar to protect their family.

Many women in India will tell you

they learned all about hygiene, diseases,

from this bar of soap from Lifebuoy brand.

Iconic brands like this one

have a responsibility to do good

in the places where they sell their products.

It's that belief, plus the scale of Unilever,

that allows us to keep talking about

handwashing with soap and hygiene to these mothers.

Big businesses and brands can change

and shift those social norms

and make a difference for those habits

that are so stubborn.

Think about it:

Marketeers spend all their time

making us switch from one brand to the other.

And actually, they know how to transform

science and facts into compelling messages.

Just for a minute, imagine

when they put all their forces behind

a message as powerful as handwashing with soap.

The profit motive is transforming health outcomes

in this world.

But it's been happening for centuries:

the Lifebuoy brand was launched in 1894

in Victorian England

to actually combat cholera.

Last week, I was in Ghana

with the minister of health,

because if you don't know,

there's a cholera outbreak in Ghana at the moment.

A hundred and eighteen years later,

the solution is exactly the same:

It's about ensuring that they have access

to this bar of soap,

and that they're using it,

because that's the number one way

to actually stop cholera from spreading.

I think this drive for profit

is extremely powerful,

sometimes more powerful than

the most committed charity or government.

Government is doing what they can,

especially in terms of the pandemics

and epidemics such as cholera,

or Ebola at the moment,

but with competing priorities.

The budget is not always there.

And when you think about this,

you think about what is required

to make handwashing a daily habit,

it requires sustained funding

to refine this behavior.

In short, those that fight for public health

are actually dependent upon the soap companies

to keep promoting handwashing with soap.

We have friends like USAID,

the Global Public-Private Partnership for Handwashing with Soap,

London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine,

Plan, WaterAid,

that all believe

for a win-win-win partnership.

Win for the public sector,

because we help them reach their targets.

Win for the private sector,

because we build new generations

of future handwashers.

And most importantly,

win for the most vulnerable.

On October 15,

we will celebrate Global Handwashing Day.

Schools, communities,

our friends in the public sector

and our friends in the private sector —

yes, on that day even our competitors,

we all join hands to celebrate

the world's most important

public health intervention.

What's required,

and again where the private sector can make a huge difference,

is coming up with this big, creative thinking

that drives advocacy.

If you take our Help a Child Reach 5 campaign,

we've created great films

that bring the message of handwashing with soap

to the everyday person

in a way that can relate to them.

We've had over 30 million views.

Most of these discussions are still happening online.

I urge you to take five minutes

and look at those films.

I come from Mali,

one of the world's poorest countries.

I grew up in a family where every dinner conversation

was around social justice.

I trained in Europe's premier school of public health.

I think I'm probably one of the only women

in my country with this high degree in health,

and the only one

with a doctorate in handwashing with soap.

(Laughter)

(Applause)

Nine years ago, I decided,

with a successful public health career in the making,

that I could make the biggest impact coming,

selling and promoting the world's best invention

in public health: soap.

We run today the world's largest

handwashing program

by any public health standards.

We've reached over 183 million people

in 16 countries.

My team and I have the ambition

to reach one billion by 2020.

Over the last four years,

business has grown double digits,

whilst child mortality has reduced

in all the places where soap use has increased.

It may be uncomfortable for some to hear —

business growth and lives saved

somehow equated in the same sentence —

but it is that business growth

that allows us to keep doing more.

Without it, and without talking about it,

we cannot achieve the change that we need.

Last week, my team and I

spent time visiting mothers

that have all experienced the same thing:

the death of a newborn.

I'm a mom. I can't imagine anything more powerful

and more painful.

This one is from Myanmar.

She had the most beautiful smile,

the smile, I think, that life gives you

when you've had a second chance.

Her son, Myo, is her second one.

She had a daughter

who passed away at three weeks,

and we know that the majority

of children that actually die

die in the first month of their life,

and we know that if we give a bar of soap

to every skilled birth attendant,

and that if soap is used before touching the babies,

we can reduce and make a change

in terms of those numbers.

And that's what inspires me,

inspires me to continue in this mission,

to know that I can equip her

with what's needed

so that she can do

the most beautiful job in the world:

nurturing her newborn.

And next time you think of a gift

for a new mom and her family,

don't look far: buy her soap.

It's the most beautiful invention in public health.

I hope you will join us

and make handwashing part of your daily lives

and our daily lives

and help more children like Myo

reach their fifth birthday.

Thank you.

(Applause)