{"id":1755,"date":"2021-10-14T17:59:09","date_gmt":"2021-10-14T15:59:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ambius.co.za\/blog\/?p=1755"},"modified":"2026-07-17T14:41:24","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T12:41:24","slug":"ambius-celebrates-global-handwashing-day-2021","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ambius.co.za\/blog\/ambius-celebrates-global-handwashing-day-2021\/","title":{"rendered":"Global Handwashing Day 2021"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Our latest blog looks at why we celebrate global handwashing day here at Rentokil, Initial and Ambius. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>From saving lives to protecting the vulnerable, vaccines are a strong argument for being one of&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.warpnews.org\/health-tech\/corona-vaccines-humanitys-greatest-achievements\/\">humanity\u2019s greatest achievements<\/a>. 196 countries and territories have now administered Coronavirus vaccines to slow the spread of COVID-19. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Vaccinations alone, however, aren\u2019t the solution. The pandemic is a stark reminder that the most effective ways to help stop the spread of COVID-19 (and other illnesses) are also the simplest: wearing a mask and good hand hygiene. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While clean, safe air is more important than ever (and you can read more about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ambius.co.za\/blog\/poor-indoor-air-affects-productivity\/\">the risk of poor air quality here<\/a>) a recent study also found that <strong>regular handwashing with soap<\/strong> can <a href=\"https:\/\/wellcomeopenresearch.org\/articles\/5-98\">reduce the likelihood of COVID-19 infection by <u>36%<\/u><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"440\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ambius.co.za\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/RI-GHD-BLOG-BANNER-270921.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1766\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Hand hygiene and hand washing<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Hand sanitisers offer an extra layer of hygiene, but handwashing with soap is often considered the easiest, most effective and affordable solution to hand hygiene. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, during the pandemic, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.unwater.org\/publications\/who-unicef-joint-monitoring-program-for-water-supply-sanitation-and-hygiene-jmp-progress-on-household-drinking-water-sanitation-and-hygiene-2000-2020\/\">2.3 billion people worldwide did not have access to a hand hygiene facility in their homes<\/a>, leaving them at risk of COVID-19 and other infections because they could not wash their hands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>By 2030, it\u2019s predicted that <a href=\"https:\/\/washdata.org\/sites\/default\/files\/2022-01\/jmp-2021-wash-households_3.pdf\">78% of people will have access<\/a> to handwashing facilities. But this <em>still <\/em>leaves approximately 1.9 billion people unable to do something most of us take for granted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Why celebrate Global Handwashing Day?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"761\" height=\"108\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ambius.co.za\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/GHD1.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1772\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The first Global Handwashing Day was launched in October 2008, and reached 120 million children in 73 countries across 5 continents. Since that successful introduction, Global Handwashing Day has gone from strength to strength. Last year, over 770 million people across 150 countries were involved. The main aim is simple \u2013 to annually highlight the importance of handwashing with soap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Each year there\u2019s a different theme for Global Handwashing Day. This year, it\u2019s \u2018<em>Our future is at hand \u2013 let\u2019s move forward together<\/em>\u2019. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As we try to move beyond COVID-19, there&#8217;s still so much work needed for the current momentum to be sustained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What are the benefits of handwashing?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Washing hands is the most effective way to prevent the spread of illnesses that challenge our health and development. Poor&nbsp;hand hygiene&nbsp;can quickly spread germs around shared spaces via common touchpoints, such as door handles and stair rails.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>By helping to stop outbreaks, handwashing remains an essential COVID-19 prevention measure while vaccines are being rolled out. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Global Hygiene Research <\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.initial.co.za\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Initial Hygiene<\/a>, part of Rentokil Initial, recently examined the global shifts\u00a0in societal\u00a0behaviour for hygiene. A total of 20,000 respondents across 20 countries (including South Africa) took part in the survey. It examined the impact of hygiene attitudes and practices on mental health and wellbeing, employee and organisational expectations, and hygiene responsibilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/content.initial.co.za\/global-hygiene-reset-report?hs_preview=PlkSqeaC-56700235086\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The Global Hygiene Reset report <\/a>revealed that not only have attitudes shifted &#8211; but so have expectations. 58% of respondents will use hand sanitiser in the future to protect against common viruses (regardless of whether or not they have already washed their hands). This demonstrates a more acute awareness of hand hygiene and how easily our hands can transmit germs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the workplace, this percentage increases, with 61% of people working in shared spaces stating that they\u2019re now likely to sanitise their hands regularly at work to manage hygiene risks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But this statistic varies greatly from country to country. <strong>85% of respondents in South Africa said they would sanitise their hands regularly to manage potential risks in a workplace environment.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Make sure your business can meet these sorts of colleague expectations with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ambius.co.za\/blog\/sanigreen-is-a-new-hand-sanitiser-stand-incorporating-plants\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">SaniGreen from Ambius<\/a>. SaniGreen is our new hand sanitiser stand that includes a live (or silk) plant to ensure that workplace hygiene is second nature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-9d6595d7 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:100%\">\n<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.ambius.co.za\/contact\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Talk to us <\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ambius.co.za\/contact\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">today<\/a> <\/strong>about how Ambius can support your efforts to improve hand hygiene in your environment &#8211; and remember to celebrate Global Handwashing Day on the 15th October.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"700\" height=\"350\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ambius.co.za\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/SaniGreen-.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1517\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on the_content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Our latest blog looks at why we celebrate global handwashing day here at Rentokil, Initial and Ambius. From saving lives to protecting the vulnerable, vaccines are a strong argument for being one of&nbsp;humanity\u2019s greatest achievements. 196 countries and territories have now administered Coronavirus vaccines to slow the spread of COVID-19. Vaccinations alone, however, aren\u2019t the [&hellip;]<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on get_the_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on get_the_excerpt --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":1759,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","_s2mail":"yes","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[88,87,86],"class_list":["post-1755","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ambius","tag-hand-sanitising","tag-hand-washing","tag-handwashing"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Global Handwashing Day 2021 - Ambius ZA Blog %<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Our latest blog looks at why we celebrate global handwashing day here at Ambius and the importance on good hand washing practices.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ambius.co.za\/blog\/ambius-celebrates-global-handwashing-day-2021\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Global Handwashing Day 2021 - Ambius ZA Blog %\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Our latest blog looks at why we celebrate global handwashing day here at Ambius and the importance on good hand washing practices.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ambius.co.za\/blog\/ambius-celebrates-global-handwashing-day-2021\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Ambius ZA Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-10-14T15:59:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-07-17T12:41:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ambius.co.za\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/GHD-banner.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"768\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"359\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Nathalie Leblond\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Nathalie Leblond\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ambius.co.za\/blog\/ambius-celebrates-global-handwashing-day-2021\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ambius.co.za\/blog\/ambius-celebrates-global-handwashing-day-2021\/\",\"name\":\"Global Handwashing Day 2021 - Ambius ZA Blog %\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ambius.co.za\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ambius.co.za\/blog\/ambius-celebrates-global-handwashing-day-2021\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ambius.co.za\/blog\/ambius-celebrates-global-handwashing-day-2021\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.ambius.co.za\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/GHD-banner.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-10-14T15:59:09+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-07-17T12:41:24+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ambius.co.za\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/fd00013f3dace04736958fadc2ec5e78\"},\"description\":\"Our latest blog looks at why we celebrate global handwashing day here at Ambius and the importance on good hand washing practices.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ambius.co.za\/blog\/ambius-celebrates-global-handwashing-day-2021\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.ambius.co.za\/blog\/ambius-celebrates-global-handwashing-day-2021\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ambius.co.za\/blog\/ambius-celebrates-global-handwashing-day-2021\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ambius.co.za\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/GHD-banner.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.ambius.co.za\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/GHD-banner.png\",\"width\":\"768\",\"height\":\"359\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ambius.co.za\/blog\/ambius-celebrates-global-handwashing-day-2021\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.ambius.co.za\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Global Handwashing Day 2021\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ambius.co.za\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ambius.co.za\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Ambius ZA Blog\",\"description\":\"Ambius ZA blog written by the Plant Doctor\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.ambius.co.za\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ambius.co.za\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/fd00013f3dace04736958fadc2ec5e78\",\"name\":\"Nathalie Leblond\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ambius.co.za\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/483b77d770d03940467d1d8f86f667cd4fd767d1d2dd5a71f6af966bf54deac6?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/483b77d770d03940467d1d8f86f667cd4fd767d1d2dd5a71f6af966bf54deac6?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Nathalie Leblond\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ambius.co.za\/blog\/author\/nleblond\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Global Handwashing Day 2021 - Ambius ZA Blog %","description":"Our latest blog looks at why we celebrate global handwashing day here at Ambius and the importance on good hand washing practices.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.ambius.co.za\/blog\/ambius-celebrates-global-handwashing-day-2021\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Global Handwashing Day 2021 - Ambius ZA Blog %","og_description":"Our latest blog looks at why we celebrate global handwashing day here at Ambius and the importance on good hand washing practices.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.ambius.co.za\/blog\/ambius-celebrates-global-handwashing-day-2021\/","og_site_name":"Ambius ZA Blog","article_published_time":"2021-10-14T15:59:09+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-07-17T12:41:24+00:00","og_image":[{"width":768,"height":359,"url":"https:\/\/www.ambius.co.za\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/GHD-banner.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Nathalie Leblond","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Nathalie Leblond","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.ambius.co.za\/blog\/ambius-celebrates-global-handwashing-day-2021\/","url":"https:\/\/www.ambius.co.za\/blog\/ambius-celebrates-global-handwashing-day-2021\/","name":"Global Handwashing Day 2021 - Ambius ZA Blog %","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ambius.co.za\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ambius.co.za\/blog\/ambius-celebrates-global-handwashing-day-2021\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ambius.co.za\/blog\/ambius-celebrates-global-handwashing-day-2021\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.ambius.co.za\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/GHD-banner.png","datePublished":"2021-10-14T15:59:09+00:00","dateModified":"2026-07-17T12:41:24+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ambius.co.za\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/fd00013f3dace04736958fadc2ec5e78"},"description":"Our latest blog looks at why we celebrate global handwashing day here at Ambius and the importance on good hand washing practices.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ambius.co.za\/blog\/ambius-celebrates-global-handwashing-day-2021\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.ambius.co.za\/blog\/ambius-celebrates-global-handwashing-day-2021\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.ambius.co.za\/blog\/ambius-celebrates-global-handwashing-day-2021\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.ambius.co.za\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/GHD-banner.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.ambius.co.za\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/GHD-banner.png","width":"768","height":"359"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.ambius.co.za\/blog\/ambius-celebrates-global-handwashing-day-2021\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.ambius.co.za\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Global Handwashing Day 2021"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.ambius.co.za\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.ambius.co.za\/blog\/","name":"Ambius ZA Blog","description":"Ambius ZA blog written by the Plant Doctor","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.ambius.co.za\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.ambius.co.za\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/fd00013f3dace04736958fadc2ec5e78","name":"Nathalie Leblond","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.ambius.co.za\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/483b77d770d03940467d1d8f86f667cd4fd767d1d2dd5a71f6af966bf54deac6?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/483b77d770d03940467d1d8f86f667cd4fd767d1d2dd5a71f6af966bf54deac6?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Nathalie Leblond"},"url":"https:\/\/www.ambius.co.za\/blog\/author\/nleblond\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ambius.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1755","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ambius.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ambius.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ambius.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ambius.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1755"}],"version-history":[{"count":26,"href":"https:\/\/www.ambius.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1755\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2789,"href":"https:\/\/www.ambius.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1755\/revisions\/2789"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ambius.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1759"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ambius.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1755"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ambius.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1755"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ambius.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1755"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}