More than 600 students and members of the provincial Women’s Union attended a ceremony on October 9 in the northern province of Lao Cai to respond to Global Hand-Washing Day, which takes place every year on October 15.

Jointly organised by the Vietnam Women’s Union and its provincial Lao Cai chapter and the National Centre for Rural Water Supply and Environmental Sanitation under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, this year’s event is called “wash your hands with soap to protect your health”.

The event aims to increase awareness of the health benefits of washing hands with soap as a key measure to prevent the spread of infectious diseases.

Rigorous hand-washing before eating and after using the toilet is the most effective and cheapest way to prevent intestinal and respiratory infections that kill millions of children in developing countries every year. Using soap can help reduce the risk of intestinal infections by 35 percent and respiratory infections by 19 to 45 percent.

On this occasion, the provincial Women’s Unions in the northern provinces of Lao Cai, Yen Bai, Lai Chau, Son La and Dien Bien signed an agreement on the family health and hygiene initiative “The Five Don’ts and Three Dos for a healthy life”.-VNA