Event Summary: Handwashing Think Tank 2016 – Day One Report
April 13, 2016
Today was the first day of the 2016 Handwashing Think Tank.
The objective of this Think Tank is to:
- Explore current knowledge about handwashing with soap,
- Spark collaborative thinking about handwashing, and
- Drive forward the sector.
Ultimately, over the course of the two days we will explore three main thematic areas of handwashing:
- Integration
- Settings
- Scale/Sustainability
Today, we focused on the latest evidence on handwashing, integration, and settings. While discussing these issues we have begun to identify both gaps in the evidence as well as areas where we feel we can move forward.
These sessions sparked robust discussion on topics ranging from handwashing in emergency settings to how we should measure hygiene in the Sustainable Development Goals.
In the afternoon, we hosted a plenary session where experts from a range of sectoral affiliations (academic, government, non-governmental, and the private sector) shared cases and lessons for learning. With this Think Tank, we hope to not only “think” or talk about how we can improve handwashing, but we want to behave differently as a result of our work.
On day two, we will examine the big question of scale/sustainability and work to articulate the way forward for handwashing and behavior change.
Slides from day one are available here.