Kenya hand washing drive aims to break Guinness world record

Kenya has played host to a number of events to mark global health days but one of this year’s events is set to make history and probably break records.

If the application for certification turns successful, thanks to Unilever’s Lifebuoy brand’s latest event to mark the Global Hand Washing Day, Kenya may be awarded the coveted Guinness World Record for hand washing.

In an attempt to break a similar record in a span of two consecutive years, Lifebuoy in partnership with Ecotact brought together 18,035 children drawn from various primary schools and a total of 1,300 adults in a hand washing drive held on October 15, 2010.

Last year, a similar drive through a partnership between the brand and World Health Organisation saw India being certified for attracting the largest crowd in a hand washing drive that saw 15,115 children participate.

This year’s event held at Thirime Primary School in Kikuyu constituency saw all the participants wash hands from the same place with 21,000 bars of soap and 10,000 litres of water.

Health reports

“Similar competitions have been held before through the Lifebuoy brand. Last year, India was certified by the Guinness World Record Committee for having attracted the highest number of people washing their hands at the same location. This year’s event held in Kenya is awaiting certification,” said Stephanie Nganga, Lifebuoy brand manager.

Past reports have indicated bids by Unilever to break hand washing records in Bangladesh although the attempts did not bear fruit.

“Lifebuoy brand has attempted to break Guinness World Record (TM) three times now after holding events in India, Bangladesh and this year in Kenya. But the event at Bangladesh was not certified as it failed to meet the requirements set by the committee,” adds Ms Nganga.

Local health reports have cited lack of proper hand washing as having contributed to the surging numbers of diarrhoeal and respiratory diseases, especially among children.

In an attempt to maintain its market presence, Lifebuoy has spearheaded hand washing campaign initiatives through partnerships with both public and private sectors.

The latest of these was launched earlier in the year and was dubbed alliance for the promotion of hand washing with soap.

The alliance brings together stakeholders from various sectors, including hotels, schools, medical practitioners and aims at complementing the government’s efforts to promote hand washing.

Through the Ministry of Public Health and sanitation, the government has been running a national hand washing campaign that saw the inclusion of clean hand washing lessons in the primary school curricula to curb diseases fuelled by poor hygiene.

Locally, close to 30,000 lives are lost annually to diarrhoeal diseases.