Simple handwashing with soap can cut hundreds of thousands of deaths a year: UN

Millions of children Tuesday took part in the sixth annual United Nations (UN)-backed "Global Handwashing Day", driving home the message that the simple use of soap and water could slash highly preventable diarrheal diseases that kill 1,400 children under five every day.

“Washing hands before eating and after defecation drastically reduces the spread of diarrheal disease and has far reaching effects on the health and welfare of children and communities,” the global head of the UN's Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) programs, Sanjay Wijesekera, said in a message marking the Day, whose theme this year is "The Power Is in our Hands."