New Global Hand Hygiene Guidelines Issued by World Health Organization and UNICEF Aim to Curb the Spread of Illnesses

DERBY, England, Oct. 15, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- On Global Handwashing Day, the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF launched the first global guidelines for hand hygiene in community settings — a major step forward to promoting better public health. For the first time, unified, science-based guidance is available to institutions to help individuals reduce the spread of infections through one of the simplest and most effective actions — washing hands.

SC Johnson Professional welcomes the release of these new guidelines and recognises hand washing as a strong foundation for creating safe and healthy environments where people gather to live, work, learn and travel. According to the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases, based in the US, handwashing can help prevent approximately 80%^[1] of infectious diseases — underscoring its critical role in public health.

Cleaner Hands Save Lives

Poor hand hygiene contributes to millions of preventable illnesses globally — a challenge that affects all regions and income levels. The introduction of these new guidelines from WHO and UNICEF highlights the significant role that simple, everyday hygiene practices play in protecting communities in public settings.

The guidelines clarify the role of handwashing within broader hygiene practices, outlining when to wash hands, how to do it effectively, and what conditions support good hygiene habits. They reinforce that handwashing is not just a personal routine — it is a public health intervention that everyone can take.

The impact of hand hygiene can be profound. Research has shown that, even in high-income countries, handwashing education can:

• Reduce diarrheal illness in people with weakened immune systems by 58%.^[2]
• Cut respiratory illnesses, like colds, in the general population by 16-21%.^[3]
• Lower diarrhoea incidence by ~33% in schools and day-care centres.^[4]

"Hand hygiene is one of the most important and effective actions individuals can take to protect themselves and others from infection. The publication of these global guidelines is a critical step in strengthening public health resilience," said Dr. Sally Bloomfield, Chairperson of the International Scientific Forum on Home Hygiene. "While handwashing alone cannot address every transmission risk, it remains one of the cornerstones of good hygiene practice — and when combined with measures like hand and food contact surface hygiene, safe food handling, ventilation and other practices it forms a powerful defence against the spread of infectious diseases."

"Hand hygiene is the first and the last line of defence in our homes and everyday life to help reduce the risk of both acquiring and transmitting community-based infections." added Professor Elizabeth Scott, Vice Chairperson, International Scientific Forum on Home Hygiene (IFH) and IFH-PATH (Pan American Targeted Hygiene). "It's something we teach children early on, but its importance continues throughout life. As cold and flu season returns, these guidelines are a timely reminder of how simple actions can protect ourselves and others."

Putting Guidelines into Action 

These new guidelines offer a unified approach to addressing hand hygiene policy in community settings, which institutions can use to support individuals and encourage hygiene behaviour changes by implementing practical strategies that encourage regular handwashing at key moments of risk.

SC Johnson Professional has a decades long history in developing skincare, cleaning and hygiene solutions. Its innovative skincare products and solutions are designed to help create safe and healthy environments and encourage good hygiene habits in public settings. As part of the Global Handwashing Partnership, a global coalition that promotes handwashing with soap, SC Johnson Professional has contributed technical expertise and advocacy to promote effective hygiene practices.

To read the new WHO/UNICEF guidelines, visit: 251015-uniceff_who_guidelines_on_hand_hygiene_15-oct_launch-version.pdf.

For more information about SC Johnson Professional, visit: https://www.scjp.com/about-us

To learn more about the International Scientific Forum on Home Hygiene, a leading scientific authority on home hygiene visit: https://ifh-homehygiene.org/

^[1]  Hands In For Handwashing - NFID, National Foundation for Infectious Diseases
^[2] Handwashing Facts | Clean Hands | CDC - U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
^[3] Handwashing Facts | Clean Hands | CDC - U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
^[4] Hand washing promotion for preventing diarrhoea, World Health Organization

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