FACT SHEET ON CLEAN WATER, HYGIENE
AND SANITATION (WASH) IN VIETNAM
Media Partnership Workshop to support the Global Hand Washing Day, Oct 15th 2010
BACKGROUND ON GLOBAL HAND-WASHING DAY (GHWD)
The practice of hand-washing with soap tops the international hygiene agenda on October
15, with the celebration of Global Hand-washing Day (GHWD). Since its inception in 2008 –
which was designated as the International Year of Sanitation by the UN General Assembly –
Global Hand-washing Day has been echoing and reinforcing the call for improved hygiene
practices worldwide.
The guiding vision of GHWD is a local and global culture of hand-washing with soap. Although
people around the world wash their hands with water, very few wash their hands with soap at
critical moments (for example, after using the toilet, while cleaning a child, and before
handling food).
Hand-washing with soap is among the most effective and inexpensive ways to prevent
diarrheal diseases and pneumonia, which together are responsible for the majority of child
deaths. Every year, more than 3.5 million children1 do not live to celebrate their 5th birthday
because of diarrheal and pneumonia. Yet, despite its lifesaving potential, hand-washing with
soap is seldom practiced and not always easy to promote.
The challenge is to transform hand-washing with soap from an abstract good idea into an
automatic behaviour performed in homes, schools, and communities worldwide. Turning
hand-washing with soap before eating and after using the toilet into an ingrained habit could
save more lives than any single vaccine or medical intervention, cutting deaths from diarrheal
by almost half and deaths from acute respiratory infections by one-quarter. More handwashing with soap would make a significant contribution to meeting the Millennium
Development Goal of Reducing deaths among children under the age of five by two-thirds by
2015. GHWD will be the centrepiece of a week of activities that will mobilize millions of
people across five continents to wash their hands with soap.
Since 2009, in Viet Nam, GHWD has come to the agenda for advocacy on hygiene and other
sanitation issues by the Government of Viet Nam (Ministry of Health, Ministry of Agriculture
and Rural Development, etc), international donors and private sector. A numbers of events
have been organised around 15 October at national and provincial levels with participation
from national policy makers, provincial leaders, members of national and international
organizations and community. Through these events, messages on the health benefit from
hand washing with soap have been disseminated through a variety of mass media, and direct
communication channels.
THE SITUATION IN VIET NAM
Hygiene and hand-washing:
According to the National Sanitation Baseline Survey conducted in 2006 by Ministry of
Health and UNICEF:

Hygiene knowledge and behaviour is a major concern: Only 2% of the rural
population is aware that hand-washing with soap is essential to help prevent
infectious diseases. Only 12 % of the rural population washes their hands with soap
before eating and only 16 % after defecation;

Although education is provided as part of the school curriculum regarding HWWS
after defecating and urinating, only 36 % schools had hand-washing areas and only
5% had soap available for hand-washing.
A research study on motivations and barriers to hand-washing with soap in Vietnam
conducted by the World Bank in 2006 revealed:


60% of those who wash their hands with water said they did not find soap important or
necessary;
Many caretakers reported that “soap was too expensive,” yet soap was found in over
90% of households;
The most recent study by the World Bank on hand-washing with soap in 2010 found:
 Nearly 50% of people reported hand-washing with soap because their hands looked or
felt dirty;
 Less than 35% of respondents reported hand-washing with soap during a critical
moment (before handling food and after contact with faeces).
Water and Sanitation
The Multi-Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) conducted by General Statistics Office (GSO) and
UNICEF in 2006 showed that:

89% of the Vietnamese population uses water from an improved source. Such
sources include piped water, public tap/standpipe, tube well/borehole, protected well,
protected spring, collected rainwater, and bottled water.
Data from the 2006 National Baseline Survey conducted by MOH-UNICEF indicated that:

Only 18% of latrines in rural areas meet the Ministry of Health’s hygienic standards
issued in 2005 (Decision No 08/2005/QD-BYT). Improved sanitation facilities include

flush toilets connected to sewage systems, septic tanks or pit latrines, ventilated
improved pit latrines with slabs, and composting toilets;
About half of children aged 0-2 years surveyed had their excreta disposed of safely.
30% of rural households use human faeces as fertiliser and that only 21% of these
households compost faeces as required for six months before using.
A literature review conducted by UNICEF in 2009 showed that

Each year more than 20,000 people die in Viet Nam because of poor water,
sanitation and hygiene (WASH). Of those deaths, almost half can be attributed to
diarrheal diseases (WHO Global Report, 2008). The three most effective
interventions to reduce diarrhea morbidity in children under 5 are hand-washing with
soap (37%), improved sanitation (34%) and point of use (POU) water treatment
(29%).
Messages for the Global Hand Washing Day, 15th October 2010
 Washing hands with water alone is not enough. Soap breaks down the grease
and dirt that carry most germs. All soaps are equally effective at rinsing away
disease-causing germs.
 Hand-washing with soap can prevent diseases that kill millions
of children every year including diarrheal diseases and pneumonia, the two
leading killers of children under five.
 The critical moments for hand washing with soap are after using the toilet or
cleaning a child and before handling food
 Hand-washing with soap is the single most cost-effective health prevention: A
$3.35 investment in hand-washing brings the same health benefits as an $11.00
investment in latrine construction, a $200.00 investment in household water
supply, and an investment of thousands of dollars in immunization.
 Children can be agent of change: When it comes down to sharing good hygiene
practices, children – the segment of society so often the most energetic, enthusiastic
and open to new ideas – can act as agents of change by taking the “hand-washing
lessons” learned at school back into their homes and communities.
IN VIETNAM, WHAT WILL BE DONE TO SUPPORT THE GLOBAL HAND WASHING
DAY IN 2010?

On 28th September 2010, UNICEF and World Bank in Viet Nam will support a
creative workshop on how to write about hand washing with soap and other WASH
issues from different angles and perspectives for about 50 journalists from 11
provinces where UNICEF and the World Bank have programmes, and for national
media writing on water and sanitation, environmental health. It is expected to raising
awareness and improving hygiene and sanitation practices of school children,
particular on HWWS in the school and home environment.

The Ministry of Health, supported by Unilever, has organized hand washing
competitions in 30 primary schools in 6 provinces (HCMC, Ha Noi, Hai Phong, Can
Tho, Da Nang, and Nha Trang). The winning schools will be selected to organize the
big event on hand washing on Oct 15th 2010 with participation of 4,000 students and
members of RWSS partnership.

UNICEF has supported the organization of a one-day Hygiene and Sanitation
Festival in 27 Schools in 5 provinces (Dien Bien, Ninh Thuan, Kon Tum, Dong Thap,
and An Giang). It is expected that about 6,000 children will participate in the events
planned from 1st to 15th October 2010. These education and entertaining activities will
raise children’s awareness, attitudes, and practices on HWWS. In addition, UNICEF
also supports to develop and disseminate a TV production to promote good practices
on sanitation and personal hygiene during October and December 2010.

Within the project “Initiative on Hand-washing with soap (HWWS)” supported by the
Water and Sanitation Programme (WSP) of the World Bank, from 8 to 18 October
2010, more than 200 communes in Phu Tho, Hung Yen, Ninh Binh, Nghe An, and
Tien Giang will organize activities to support the GHWD such as launching
ceremonies, meetings in the schools, communication to people through loud
speakers, village meetings.

As one of the activity under the NTP II, NCERWASS – MARD collaborates with mass
media at central and provincials levels to disseminate WASH messages to rural
communities in all over the country through different mass media channels such as
TVs, newspapers, radio, and internet.
UNICEF VIET NAM HAS SUPPORTED THE GOVERNMENT ON
UNICEF has played an essential role in the Water, Hygiene and Sanitation (WASH) sector.
Since 1982, the organisation has maintained a close partnership with government and other
donors and stakeholders/partners in supporting the Rural Water Supply and Sanitation
sector in the country. In the last three decades, UNICEF WASH programme has contributed
significantly in improving the national rural water supply and sanitation coverage from 62%
and 50% respectively in 2005 to 83% and 77% by the end of 2010. By 2005, UNICEF
supported 34 provinces for construction of 5,529 rural water sources and 29 sanitation
facilities in schools.
Since 2009, UNICEF has supported WASH components under the Child Survival and
Development programme to contribute to the reduction of the country’s child mortality,
morbidity and malnutrition through preventing the risks of diarrhoea, intestinal parasites, and
water borne diseases for children. The key WASH interventions include: (1) Development of
policy and advocacy to strengthen relevant laws, policies, and National Target Programs and
their implementation; (2) Capacity Building for relevant duty bearers in fulfilling the rights of
the children and equity in access to clean water and adequate sanitation for all vulnerable
and marginalized population; (3) Behaviour Change Communication to promote good
practices on clean water usage, good hygiene and sanitation for rural communities,
especially mother of children under five and children living in the remote rural ethnic minority
provinces.
In the last three years, UNICEF has provided water and sanitation facilities and hygiene
education for communities and schools in the five provinces of Provincial Child Friendly
Programme (Dien Bien, Ninh Thuan, Kon Tum, Dong Thap, An Giang, and Ho Chi Minh
City). It is estimated that more than 10,000 children in these provinces (have benefitted from
the programme. In addition, UNICEF has also supported GoV in WASH emergency
preparedness and response through provision of chemicals for water treatment and hygiene
kits for the provinces affected by natural disasters.
For more information, please contact Mr. Thowai Zai and/or Ms. Nguyen Thanh Hien,
UNICEF WASH specialist, e-mail: tzai@unicef.org, nthien@unicef.org
THE WORLD BANK IN VIETNAM HAS PROVIDED SUPPORT ON
The Water and Sanitation Programme (WSP) is an international partnership to help people
to have sustainable access to improve water and sanitation facilities. WSP programme was
oversight by the World Bank with financial support from bilateral and multilateral donors and
private sector. The programme has branches in Africa, East Asia, Latin America, and South
Asia. The main goal of the programme is to help the partners to prepare and implement
activities to achieve Millennium Development Goal on Clean Water and Sanitation. The
programme works with international, regional, and national partners on capacity building,
policy development, system strengthening and human development. For for information,
refer to WSP programme’s website: www.wsp.org
Since January 2006, the Water and Sanitation Programme (WSP) of the World Bank in Viet
Nam has supported the Department of Preventive Medicine of Ministry of Health, and Viet
Nam Women’s Union to implement the project: “Initiative on Public Private Partnership for
Hand Washing with Soap”. The main objective of the project is to reduce mortality and
morbidity rate cause by diarrheal in children under 5 years old through a communication
program using many different methods of communication for behaviour change
communication. The project focuses on 1) Communication to raise awareness on hand
washing with soap (HWWS) through national and provincial TVs; 2) Improve mothers’ and
caregivers’ skills and practices in HWWS through direct communications at communities; 3)
Raising awareness on HWWS through social marketing activities in public places; and 4)
integrate HWWS into regular WASH activities supported by line ministries and other donors
and NGOs.
The project has been operated in 540 communes and 512 primary schools in 10 provinces in
the project area: Son La, Phu Tho, Hung Yen, Thanh Hoa, and Nghe An, Binh Dinh, Phu
Yen, Tien Giang, Vinh Long and Dong Thap. Besides, the project has supported for and
washing with soap (HWWS) in 140 primary schools and 20 communes in some programs
and projects such as the National Target Program on Water and Sanitation in Tra Vinh, Ninh
Thuan, An Giang, and Phu Yen; Water and Sanitation Project supported by World Bank in
the Red River; Women’s Union of Ninh Binh, Soc Trang and Ca Mau provinces.
Up to now, the project has access to approximately 14 million people through mass media
and about 1.4 million mothers with children under 5 years old, primary caregivers for children
under 5 and primary school students .
For more information, please contact Ms. Nguyen Kim Nga-Coordinator of the project, the email: nnguyen4@worldbank.org