Soap and water could save South African children, minister says
Nearly 3,000 children under five died of diarrhoea, flu and pneumonia in 2024. On Global Handwashing Day, the government asked parents and teachers to make clean hands a habit.
Soweto — On Global Handwashing Day, 15 October, South Africa's Deputy Minister of Water and Sanitation, Jack Bloom, urged parents, teachers and carers to teach children to wash their hands with soap and clean water, the government news agency SAnews reports.
Why it matters
- Nearly 3,000 South African children under five died of diarrhoea, flu and pneumonia in 2024, about eight a day, according to Statistics South Africa. Mr Bloom said many of those deaths could have been prevented.
- Only 54% of households wash their hands with soap and water after using the toilet, according to Stats SA's 2024 household survey.
- A community survey in Soweto found that homes with poor hand hygiene were more likely to have had a bout of diarrhoea in the previous two weeks.
What soap can do
- Research by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that washing hands with soap can cut diarrhoeal illness by 23% to 40% and respiratory illness by up to 21%.
- UNICEF reports that children who regularly wash with soap after the toilet and before eating cut their risk of diarrhoeal disease by more than 40%.
Handwashing heroes
This year's campaign continues the theme Be a Handwashing Hero, honouring people who make it a daily habit. Mr Bloom visited Kido's Educare Centre in Protea South, Soweto, where the principal, Julia Maseko, showed how she teaches young children about clean hands.
He urged adults to wash their hands before eating, cooking or feeding children, and after using the toilet, changing nappies, gardening or handling animals, and to teach children the habit early.
Source: SAnews, 15 October 2026.
