Maynilad Water Services Inc. and Metro Pacific Water launched the annual Global Hand Washing Day campaign, along with partners from the MVP Group of Companies and various local agencies.
This year’s GHD campaign aims to raise awareness on proper hand washing through a virtual dance challenge and educational digital content creation on social media platforms such as Facebook and TikTok.
GHD is a global advocacy day celebrated every Oct. 15 and is dedicated to increasing awareness and understanding about the effectiveness of hand washing in preventing the spread of diseases. According to the Global Handwashing Organization, this unprecedented time provides a compelling reason to institutionalize hand hygiene as a fundamental component of health and safety.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has placed a spotlight on how the simple act of washing one’s hands properly can help save lives. We in Maynilad, MPW, and the rest of the MVP Group of Companies would like to see proper hand washing become a habit among Filipinos, with or without a pandemic,” said Maynilad president and chief executive Ramoncito Fernandez.
Metro Pacific Water president Rogelio Singson lauded the extent of partnership the campaign generated this year as an apt response to the call for togetherness. “The theme ‘Our Future is at Hand – Let’s Move Forward Together’, calls for a coordinated action as we actively work toward universal hand hygiene,” he said.
This year’s official GHD partners include companies within the MVP Group, government agencies, non-government organizations and industry associations.
Among them are Metro Pacific Investments Corp., Metro Pacific Hospital Holdings Inc. and participating hospitals, Maynilad subsidiaries, Department of Health, Philippine Association of Medical Technologists, Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System, Local Water Utilities Administration, Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation and TikTok Philippines.
“It is vital to promote proper handwashing with soap to combat the virus and other diseases. The Metro Pacific Hospital Group is happy to support such a fun and engaging initiative as we remain at the forefront of our fight against COVID-19,” said Augie Palisoc Jr., president of MPHHI.
The GHD 2021 campaign will run from Oct. 4 to 14. Entries and engagements will be tracked through hashtags #HandwashingDanceChallenge, #20seondsdapat and #GlobalHandwashingDayPH2021 on Facebook for the group dance challenge and #20secondsdapat on TikTok for the individual educational content creation.
Winners will be announced on Oct. 15 which marks the Global Handwashing Day.
