0:00:00.408,0:00:06.170
So imagine that a plane is about to crash

0:00:06.170,0:00:08.971
with 250 children and babies,

0:00:08.971,0:00:12.390
and if you knew how to stop that, would you?

0:00:12.390,0:00:14.361
Now imagine

0:00:14.361,0:00:18.000
that 60 planes full of babies under five

0:00:18.000,0:00:21.210
crash every single day.

0:00:21.210,0:00:22.982
That's the number of kids

0:00:22.982,0:00:25.307
that never make it to their fifth birthday.

0:00:25.307,0:00:28.547
6.6 million children

0:00:28.547,0:00:32.138
never make it to their fifth birthday.

0:00:32.138,0:00:34.594
Most of these deaths are preventable,

0:00:34.594,0:00:36.562
and that doesn't just make me sad,

0:00:36.562,0:00:38.258
it makes me angry,

0:00:38.258,0:00:40.616
and it makes me determined.

0:00:40.616,0:00:42.506
Diarrhea and pneumonia

0:00:42.506,0:00:44.322
are among the top two killers

0:00:44.322,0:00:46.640
of children under five,

0:00:46.640,0:00:48.896
and what we can do to prevent these diseases

0:00:48.896,0:00:51.076
isn't some smart,

0:00:51.076,0:00:53.993
new technological innovations.

0:00:53.993,0:00:58.872
It's one of the world's oldest inventions:

0:00:58.872,0:01:02.397
a bar of soap.

0:01:02.397,0:01:03.829
Washing hands with soap,

0:01:03.829,0:01:06.200
a habit we all take for granted,

0:01:06.200,0:01:08.484
can reduce diarrhea by half,

0:01:08.484,0:01:12.140
can reduce respiratory infections by one third.

0:01:12.140,0:01:13.911
Handwashing with soap

0:01:13.911,0:01:15.560
can have an impact

0:01:15.560,0:01:20.587
on reducing flu, trachoma, SARS,

0:01:20.587,0:01:22.977
and most recently in the case of cholera

0:01:22.977,0:01:25.667
and Ebola outbreak,

0:01:25.667,0:01:27.358
one of the key interventions

0:01:27.358,0:01:30.176
is handwashing with soap.

0:01:30.176,0:01:33.431
Handwashing with soap keeps kids in school.

0:01:33.431,0:01:36.254
It stops babies from dying.

0:01:36.254,0:01:38.127
Handwashing with soap

0:01:38.127,0:01:40.924
is one of the most cost-effective

0:01:40.924,0:01:43.470
ways of saving children's lives.

0:01:43.470,0:01:47.126
It can save over 600,000 children every year.

0:01:47.126,0:01:50.090
That's the equivalent of stopping

0:01:50.090,0:01:52.070
10 jumbo jets

0:01:52.070,0:01:53.998
full of babies and children

0:01:53.998,0:01:56.709
from crashing every single day.

0:01:56.709,0:01:59.133
I think you'll agree with me that that's a pretty

0:01:59.133,0:02:02.415
useful public health intervention.

0:02:02.415,0:02:05.365
So now just take a minute.

0:02:05.365,0:02:07.301
I think you need to get to[br]know the person next to you.

0:02:07.301,0:02:09.249
Why don't you just shake their hands.

0:02:09.249,0:02:11.493
Please shake their hands.

0:02:11.493,0:02:12.793
All right, get to know each other.

0:02:12.793,0:02:14.328
They look really pretty.

0:02:14.328,0:02:16.101
All right.

0:02:16.101,0:02:18.399
So what if I told you

0:02:18.399,0:02:20.984
that the person whose hands you just shook

0:02:20.984,0:02:22.692
actually didn't wash their hands

0:02:22.692,0:02:25.350
when they were coming out of the toilet?[br](Laughter)

0:02:25.350,0:02:28.680
They don't look so pretty anymore, right?

0:02:28.680,0:02:31.836
Pretty yucky, you would agree with me.

0:02:31.836,0:02:33.501
Well, statistics are actually showing

0:02:33.501,0:02:35.917
that four people out of five

0:02:35.917,0:02:38.525
don't wash their hands when[br]they come out of the toilet,

0:02:38.525,0:02:40.213
globally.

0:02:40.213,0:02:42.483
And the same way,

0:02:42.483,0:02:45.227
we don't do it when we've got fancy toilets,

0:02:45.227,0:02:47.677
running water, and soap available,

0:02:47.677,0:02:49.611
it's the same thing in the countries

0:02:49.611,0:02:52.985
where child mortality is really high.

0:02:52.985,0:02:55.299
What is it? Is there no soap?

0:02:55.299,0:02:57.548
Actually, soap is available.

0:02:57.548,0:03:01.203
In 90 percent of households in India,

0:03:01.203,0:03:03.883
94 percent of households in Kenya,

0:03:03.883,0:03:05.363
you will find soap.

0:03:05.363,0:03:09.200
Even in countries where soap is the lowest,

0:03:09.200,0:03:12.779
like Ethiopia, we are at 50 percent.

0:03:12.779,0:03:14.006
So why is it?

0:03:14.006,0:03:16.939
Why aren't people washing their hands?

0:03:16.939,0:03:19.323
Why is it that Mayank,

0:03:19.323,0:03:21.590
this young boy that I met in India,

0:03:21.590,0:03:23.335
isn't washing his hands?

0:03:23.335,0:03:25.947
Well, in Mayank's family,

0:03:25.947,0:03:28.379
soap is used for bathing,

0:03:28.379,0:03:30.371
soap is used for laundry,

0:03:30.371,0:03:33.240
soap is used for washing dishes.

0:03:33.240,0:03:35.107
His parents think sometimes

0:03:35.107,0:03:36.671
it's a precious commodity,

0:03:36.671,0:03:38.938
so they'll keep it in a cupboard.

0:03:38.938,0:03:41.692
They'll keep it away from him so he doesn't waste it.

0:03:41.692,0:03:44.242
On average, in Mayank's family,

0:03:44.242,0:03:46.314
they will use soap for washing hands

0:03:46.314,0:03:47.765
once a day

0:03:47.765,0:03:50.130
at the very best, and sometimes

0:03:50.130,0:03:53.115
even once a week for washing hands with soap.

0:03:53.115,0:03:55.330
What's the result of that?

0:03:55.330,0:03:57.195
Children pick up disease

0:03:57.195,0:03:58.870
in the place that's supposed to love them

0:03:58.870,0:04:03.778
and protect them the most, in their homes.

0:04:03.778,0:04:06.326
Think about where you learned to wash your hands.

0:04:06.326,0:04:09.130
Did you learn to wash your hands at home?

0:04:09.130,0:04:11.906
Did you learn to wash your hands in school?

0:04:11.906,0:04:14.386
I think behavioral scientists will tell you

0:04:14.386,0:04:16.925
that it's very difficult to change the habits

0:04:16.925,0:04:21.810
that you have had early in life.

0:04:21.810,0:04:24.607
However, we all copy what everyone else does,

0:04:24.607,0:04:27.331
and local cultural norms are something

0:04:27.331,0:04:30.642
that shape how we change our behavior,

0:04:30.642,0:04:33.418
and this is where the private sector comes in.

0:04:33.418,0:04:37.218
Every second in Asia and Africa,

0:04:37.218,0:04:40.140
111 mothers

0:04:40.140,0:04:43.858
will buy this bar to protect their family.

0:04:43.858,0:04:45.898
Many women in India will tell you

0:04:45.898,0:04:48.124
they learned all about hygiene, diseases,

0:04:48.124,0:04:51.870
from this bar of soap from Lifebuoy brand.

0:04:51.870,0:04:53.745
Iconic brands like this one

0:04:53.745,0:04:55.633
have a responsibility to do good

0:04:55.633,0:04:58.114
in the places where they sell their products.

0:04:58.114,0:05:01.289
It's that belief, plus the scale of Unilever,

0:05:01.289,0:05:03.729
that allows us to keep talking about

0:05:03.729,0:05:07.545
handwashing with soap and[br]hygiene to these mothers.

0:05:07.545,0:05:10.817
Big businesses and brands can change

0:05:10.817,0:05:12.969
and shift those social norms

0:05:12.969,0:05:14.881
and make a difference for those habits

0:05:14.881,0:05:17.061
that are so stubborn.

0:05:17.061,0:05:18.319
Think about it:

0:05:18.319,0:05:21.824
Marketeers spend all their time

0:05:21.824,0:05:26.180
making us switch from one brand to the other.

0:05:26.180,0:05:29.170
And actually, they know how to transform

0:05:29.170,0:05:32.203
science and facts into compelling messages.

0:05:32.203,0:05:34.099
Just for a minute, imagine

0:05:34.099,0:05:36.840
when they put all their forces behind

0:05:36.840,0:05:39.790
a message as powerful as handwashing with soap.

0:05:39.790,0:05:42.749
The profit motive is transforming health outcomes

0:05:42.749,0:05:44.627
in this world.

0:05:44.627,0:05:46.446
But it's been happening for centuries:

0:05:46.446,0:05:49.979
the Lifebuoy brand was launched in 1894

0:05:49.979,0:05:51.715
in Victorian England

0:05:51.715,0:05:53.987
to actually combat cholera.

0:05:53.987,0:05:56.291
Last week, I was in Ghana

0:05:56.291,0:05:57.830
with the minister of health,

0:05:57.830,0:05:59.049
because if you don't know,

0:05:59.049,0:06:01.706
there's a cholera outbreak in Ghana at the moment.

0:06:01.706,0:06:03.842
A hundred and eighteen years later,

0:06:03.842,0:06:05.762
the solution is exactly the same:

0:06:05.762,0:06:08.258
It's about ensuring that they have access

0:06:08.258,0:06:09.674
to this bar of soap,

0:06:09.674,0:06:11.419
and that they're using it,

0:06:11.419,0:06:13.379
because that's the number one way

0:06:13.379,0:06:16.610
to actually stop cholera from spreading.

0:06:16.610,0:06:19.010
I think this drive for profit

0:06:19.010,0:06:20.881
is extremely powerful,

0:06:20.881,0:06:22.341
sometimes more powerful than

0:06:22.341,0:06:25.636
the most committed charity or government.

0:06:25.636,0:06:27.438
Government is doing what they can,

0:06:27.438,0:06:30.813
especially in terms of the pandemics

0:06:30.813,0:06:33.350
and epidemics such as cholera,

0:06:33.350,0:06:34.805
or Ebola at the moment,

0:06:34.805,0:06:37.345
but with competing priorities.

0:06:37.345,0:06:39.850
The budget is not always there.

0:06:39.850,0:06:41.713
And when you think about this,

0:06:41.713,0:06:43.820
you think about what is required

0:06:43.820,0:06:46.141
to make handwashing a daily habit,

0:06:46.141,0:06:49.962
it requires sustained funding

0:06:49.962,0:06:53.070
to refine this behavior.

0:06:53.070,0:06:57.503
In short, those that fight for public health

0:06:57.503,0:07:00.267
are actually dependent upon the soap companies

0:07:00.267,0:07:03.263
to keep promoting handwashing with soap.

0:07:03.263,0:07:06.505
We have friends like USAID,

0:07:06.505,0:07:09.810
the Global Public-Private Partnership[br]for Handwashing with Soap,

0:07:09.810,0:07:11.970
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine,

0:07:11.970,0:07:13.539
Plan, WaterAid,

0:07:13.539,0:07:15.046
that all believe

0:07:15.046,0:07:18.761
for a win-win-win partnership.

0:07:18.761,0:07:20.746
Win for the public sector,

0:07:20.746,0:07:23.821
because we help them reach their targets.

0:07:23.821,0:07:26.209
Win for the private sector,

0:07:26.209,0:07:27.623
because we build new generations

0:07:27.623,0:07:29.420
of future handwashers.

0:07:29.420,0:07:31.633
And most importantly,

0:07:31.633,0:07:34.240
win for the most vulnerable.

0:07:34.240,0:07:36.296
On October 15,

0:07:36.296,0:07:38.648
we will celebrate Global Handwashing Day.

0:07:38.648,0:07:40.368
Schools, communities,

0:07:40.368,0:07:42.248
our friends in the public sector

0:07:42.248,0:07:44.864
and our friends in the private sector —

0:07:44.864,0:07:47.144
yes, on that day even our competitors,

0:07:47.144,0:07:49.130
we all join hands to celebrate

0:07:49.130,0:07:51.112
the world's most important

0:07:51.112,0:07:53.160
public health intervention.

0:07:53.160,0:07:54.385
What's required,

0:07:54.385,0:07:57.121
and again where the private sector[br]can make a huge difference,

0:07:57.121,0:08:00.887
is coming up with this big, creative thinking

0:08:00.887,0:08:03.128
that drives advocacy.

0:08:03.128,0:08:05.791
If you take our Help a Child Reach 5 campaign,

0:08:05.791,0:08:08.770
we've created great films

0:08:08.770,0:08:10.856
that bring the message of handwashing with soap

0:08:10.856,0:08:12.551
to the everyday person

0:08:12.551,0:08:15.127
in a way that can relate to them.

0:08:15.127,0:08:16.887
We've had over 30 million views.

0:08:16.887,0:08:19.414
Most of these discussions are still happening online.

0:08:19.414,0:08:20.886
I urge you to take five minutes

0:08:20.886,0:08:24.943
and look at those films.

0:08:24.943,0:08:26.472
I come from Mali,

0:08:26.472,0:08:28.815
one of the world's poorest countries.

0:08:28.815,0:08:31.551
I grew up in a family where every dinner conversation

0:08:31.551,0:08:33.729
was around social justice.

0:08:33.729,0:08:37.257
I trained in Europe's premier school of public health.

0:08:37.257,0:08:38.985
I think I'm probably one of the only women

0:08:38.985,0:08:42.426
in my country with this high degree in health,

0:08:42.426,0:08:43.910
and the only one

0:08:43.910,0:08:47.512
with a doctorate in handwashing with soap.

0:08:47.512,0:08:49.248
(Laughter)

0:08:49.248,0:08:53.460
(Applause)

0:08:55.872,0:08:58.223
Nine years ago, I decided,

0:08:58.223,0:09:01.136
with a successful public health career in the making,

0:09:01.136,0:09:04.664
that I could make the biggest impact coming,

0:09:04.664,0:09:07.695
selling and promoting the world's best invention

0:09:07.695,0:09:10.230
in public health: soap.

0:09:10.230,0:09:12.359
We run today the world's largest

0:09:12.359,0:09:13.730
handwashing program

0:09:13.730,0:09:16.308
by any public health standards.

0:09:16.308,0:09:19.780
We've reached over 183 million people

0:09:19.780,0:09:22.970
in 16 countries.

0:09:22.970,0:09:24.806
My team and I have the ambition

0:09:24.806,0:09:28.564
to reach one billion by 2020.

0:09:28.564,0:09:30.758
Over the last four years,

0:09:30.758,0:09:33.486
business has grown double digits,

0:09:33.486,0:09:35.423
whilst child mortality has reduced

0:09:35.423,0:09:39.845
in all the places where soap use has increased.

0:09:39.845,0:09:42.150
It may be uncomfortable for some to hear —

0:09:42.150,0:09:44.405
business growth and lives saved

0:09:44.405,0:09:47.918
somehow equated in the same sentence —

0:09:47.918,0:09:49.837
but it is that business growth

0:09:49.837,0:09:52.133
that allows us to keep doing more.

0:09:52.133,0:09:54.877
Without it, and without talking about it,

0:09:54.877,0:09:58.925
we cannot achieve the change that we need.

0:09:58.925,0:10:01.110
Last week, my team and I

0:10:01.110,0:10:04.406
spent time visiting mothers

0:10:04.406,0:10:06.917
that have all experienced the same thing:

0:10:06.917,0:10:09.349
the death of a newborn.

0:10:09.349,0:10:12.349
I'm a mom. I can't imagine anything more powerful

0:10:12.349,0:10:15.262
and more painful.

0:10:15.262,0:10:17.894
This one is from Myanmar.

0:10:17.894,0:10:19.900
She had the most beautiful smile,

0:10:19.900,0:10:22.110
the smile, I think, that life gives you

0:10:22.110,0:10:24.497
when you've had a second chance.

0:10:24.497,0:10:27.831
Her son, Myo, is her second one.

0:10:27.831,0:10:29.735
She had a daughter

0:10:29.735,0:10:32.127
who passed away at three weeks,

0:10:32.127,0:10:34.480
and we know that the majority

0:10:34.480,0:10:35.820
of children that actually die

0:10:35.820,0:10:37.686
die in the first month of their life,

0:10:37.686,0:10:40.554
and we know that if we give a bar of soap

0:10:40.554,0:10:42.814
to every skilled birth attendant,

0:10:42.814,0:10:45.364
and that if soap is used [br]before touching the babies,

0:10:45.364,0:10:46.606
we can reduce and make a change

0:10:46.606,0:10:48.650
in terms of those numbers.

0:10:48.650,0:10:50.518
And that's what inspires me,

0:10:50.518,0:10:52.750
inspires me to continue in this mission,

0:10:52.750,0:10:55.134
to know that I can equip her

0:10:55.134,0:10:56.939
with what's needed

0:10:56.939,0:10:58.790
so that she can do

0:10:58.790,0:11:00.854
the most beautiful job in the world:

0:11:00.854,0:11:02.980
nurturing her newborn.

0:11:02.980,0:11:05.285
And next time you think of a gift

0:11:05.285,0:11:07.375
for a new mom and her family,

0:11:07.375,0:11:10.165
don't look far: buy her soap.

0:11:10.165,0:11:13.373
It's the most beautiful invention in public health.

0:11:13.373,0:11:15.749
I hope you will join us

0:11:15.749,0:11:18.701
and make handwashing part of your daily lives

0:11:18.701,0:11:20.405
and our daily lives

0:11:20.405,0:11:22.629
and help more children like Myo

0:11:22.629,0:11:23.757
reach their fifth birthday.

0:11:23.757,0:11:26.164
Thank you.

0:11:26.164,0:11:28.378
(Applause)