“Wash your hands for 60 seconds!” “Rub soap in every corner of your hand”. “Use sanitizer”. Do you remember these slogans from the Covid days? It’s been five years; meanwhile, have you lost your sparkly enthusiasm to wash your hands properly? Well, if you have, today is your day to revive the habit because it is Global Handwashing Day!

This day has been celebrated every year on 15 October since 2008 by the Global Handwashing Partnership, which is supported by UNICEF and the United Nations. The aim is simple but important, which is to remind everyone that even washing hands can save lives. 

Clean hands can prevent diseases, save lives and stop germs from spreading faster. The day is observed in schools, offices and different organisations worldwide through campaigns, demonstrations and presentations. Because we still need to be taught how to do something our mothers have been yelling at us to do forever. 

How ironic is it that something as basic as washing hands only became a priority globally when a literal pandemic hit us? After that everyone became conscious; there were WhatsApp reminders about it, and ads were being telecasted. 

It took a virus to make us realise the importance of hygiene. We suddenly rediscovered soap and handwash. People not only started washing their hands properly but also started disinfecting their groceries and even cash notes. 

However, in Bangladesh, handwashing is still neglected by the majority of people. Especially years after covid, when things have started to go back to as it was before. Many people still make do with a quick splash of water. 

Some even use their janalar porda as a towel after eating. And let us not even mention the roadside food stall and bhelpuri, fuchka mamas. People are surprisingly unfamiliar with even the most basic ideas of hygiene. Washing hands before eating, after handling money, or even after using the toilet is not a regular practice for most. 

Despite these awareness campaigns, many people in Bangladesh still lack proper hygiene facilities. It is not that people do not care; it is because hygiene education has never been emphasised strongly enough. 

As a result, people have grown ignorant and eventually diseased. For many, it is seen as an extra step rather than a necessity. Hygiene etiquette in Bangladesh has been so neglected and normalised in the wrong way that many people do not even understand the difference between right and wrong. 

Littering on the roads, spitting in open spaces, or sneezing without covering the mouth is so normal that people do not even notice how unhygienic these habits are. This is exactly why Global Handwashing Day matters. So that we can remember that health starts with something as small as soap and water. 

If being healthy does not motivate a person, I have found a new motivation: skincare. Nowadays, girls are serious about washing their hands because hands bring germs and germs cause pimples. 

Washing hands, therefore, has become a part of their skin care routine. We can find other motivations as well by linking hygiene with self-respect, social responsibility and religion. 

This year’s Global Handwashing Day theme is “Be a Handwashing Hero!” The campaign encourages everyone, from kids, students, parents, and teachers to even that one friend who never washes their hand after eating fuchka, to become everyday heroes by practicing and promoting proper handwashing. To be this king of hero, you do not need a cape or a mask. You only need a bar of soap and a little consistency. 

Now go and wash your hands!