Over 300,000 children died globally of diarrhoea in 2015, says UNICEF

Doune Porter

As the World marks Global Handwashing Day, the United Nations International Children Fund (UNICEF), has said that over 300,000 children under five died from diarrhoea diseases due to inadequate access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene in 2015.

In a statement signed by UNICEF Chief of Communication Doune Porter, the group revealed that 800 children died per day globally as a result of diarrhoea, adding that the deaths could have been prevented through the simple act of hand washing with soap.

UNICEF’s global head of water, sanitation and hygiene, Sanjay Wijesekera, said every year, 1.4 million children are dying from largely preventable diseases like pneumonia and diarrhoea, adding that the number could be reduced by working with children and families to adopt a very straightforward solution of hand washing.

He said hand washing with soap before meals and after using the toilet could reduce the incidence of diarrhoea infections by 40 per cent, even as he urged children, families and communities to make washing hands with soap a habit to help prevent the spread of diseases.

By Guardian