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So imagine that a plane is about to crash

2
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with 250 children and babies,

3
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and if you knew how to stop that, would you?

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00:00:12,390 --> 00:00:14,361
Now imagine

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00:00:14,361 --> 00:00:18,000
that 60 planes full of babies under five

6
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crash every single day.

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That's the number of kids

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that never make it to their fifth birthday.

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6.6 million children

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never make it to their fifth birthday.

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Most of these deaths are preventable,

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and that doesn't just make me sad,

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it makes me angry,

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and it makes me determined.

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Diarrhea and pneumonia

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are among the top two killers

17
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of children under five,

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and what we can do to prevent these diseases

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isn't some smart,

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new technological innovations.

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It's one of the world's oldest inventions:

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a bar of soap.

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Washing hands with soap,

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a habit we all take for granted,

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00:01:06,200 --> 00:01:08,484
can reduce diarrhea by half,

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can reduce respiratory infections by one third.

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Handwashing with soap

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can have an impact

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on reducing flu, trachoma, SARS,

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and most recently in the case of cholera

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and Ebola outbreak,

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one of the key interventions

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is handwashing with soap.

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Handwashing with soap keeps kids in school.

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It stops babies from dying.

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Handwashing with soap

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is one of the most cost-effective

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ways of saving children's lives.

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It can save over 600,000 children every year.

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That's the equivalent of stopping

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10 jumbo jets

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full of babies and children

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from crashing every single day.

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I think you'll agree with me that that's a pretty

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useful public health intervention.

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So now just take a minute.

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I think you need to get to
know the person next to you.

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Why don't you just shake their hands.

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Please shake their hands.

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All right, get to know each other.

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They look really pretty.

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All right.

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So what if I told you

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that the person whose hands you just shook

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actually didn't wash their hands

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when they were coming out of the toilet?
(Laughter)

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They don't look so pretty anymore, right?

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Pretty yucky, you would agree with me.

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00:02:31,836 --> 00:02:33,501
Well, statistics are actually showing

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that four people out of five

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don't wash their hands when
they come out of the toilet,

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globally.

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And the same way,

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we don't do it when we've got fancy toilets,

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running water, and soap available,

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it's the same thing in the countries

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where child mortality is really high.

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What is it? Is there no soap?

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Actually, soap is available.

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In 90 percent of households in India,

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94 percent of households in Kenya,

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you will find soap.

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Even in countries where soap is the lowest,

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like Ethiopia, we are at 50 percent.

75
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So why is it?

76
00:03:14,006 --> 00:03:16,939
Why aren't people washing their hands?

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00:03:16,939 --> 00:03:19,323
Why is it that Mayank,

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00:03:19,323 --> 00:03:21,590
this young boy that I met in India,

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00:03:21,590 --> 00:03:23,335
isn't washing his hands?

80
00:03:23,335 --> 00:03:25,947
Well, in Mayank's family,

81
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soap is used for bathing,

82
00:03:28,379 --> 00:03:30,371
soap is used for laundry,

83
00:03:30,371 --> 00:03:33,240
soap is used for washing dishes.

84
00:03:33,240 --> 00:03:35,107
His parents think sometimes

85
00:03:35,107 --> 00:03:36,671
it's a precious commodity,

86
00:03:36,671 --> 00:03:38,938
so they'll keep it in a cupboard.

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00:03:38,938 --> 00:03:41,692
They'll keep it away from him so he doesn't waste it.

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00:03:41,692 --> 00:03:44,242
On average, in Mayank's family,

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00:03:44,242 --> 00:03:46,314
they will use soap for washing hands

90
00:03:46,314 --> 00:03:47,765
once a day

91
00:03:47,765 --> 00:03:50,130
at the very best, and sometimes

92
00:03:50,130 --> 00:03:53,115
even once a week for washing hands with soap.

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What's the result of that?

94
00:03:55,330 --> 00:03:57,195
Children pick up disease

95
00:03:57,195 --> 00:03:58,870
in the place that's supposed to love them

96
00:03:58,870 --> 00:04:03,778
and protect them the most, in their homes.

97
00:04:03,778 --> 00:04:06,326
Think about where you learned to wash your hands.

98
00:04:06,326 --> 00:04:09,130
Did you learn to wash your hands at home?

99
00:04:09,130 --> 00:04:11,906
Did you learn to wash your hands in school?

100
00:04:11,906 --> 00:04:14,386
I think behavioral scientists will tell you

101
00:04:14,386 --> 00:04:16,925
that it's very difficult to change the habits

102
00:04:16,925 --> 00:04:21,810
that you have had early in life.

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00:04:21,810 --> 00:04:24,607
However, we all copy what everyone else does,

104
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and local cultural norms are something

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00:04:27,331 --> 00:04:30,642
that shape how we change our behavior,

106
00:04:30,642 --> 00:04:33,418
and this is where the private sector comes in.

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Every second in Asia and Africa,

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111 mothers

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will buy this bar to protect their family.

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Many women in India will tell you

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00:04:45,898 --> 00:04:48,124
they learned all about hygiene, diseases,

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from this bar of soap from Lifebuoy brand.

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Iconic brands like this one

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have a responsibility to do good

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in the places where they sell their products.

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It's that belief, plus the scale of Unilever,

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that allows us to keep talking about

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00:05:03,729 --> 00:05:07,545
handwashing with soap and
hygiene to these mothers.

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Big businesses and brands can change

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and shift those social norms

121
00:05:12,969 --> 00:05:14,881
and make a difference for those habits

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00:05:14,881 --> 00:05:17,061
that are so stubborn.

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Think about it:

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Marketeers spend all their time

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00:05:21,824 --> 00:05:26,180
making us switch from one brand to the other.

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And actually, they know how to transform

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science and facts into compelling messages.

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Just for a minute, imagine

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when they put all their forces behind

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00:05:36,840 --> 00:05:39,790
a message as powerful as handwashing with soap.

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The profit motive is transforming health outcomes

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in this world.

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But it's been happening for centuries:

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the Lifebuoy brand was launched in 1894

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in Victorian England

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to actually combat cholera.

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Last week, I was in Ghana

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with the minister of health,

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because if you don't know,

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there's a cholera outbreak in Ghana at the moment.

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A hundred and eighteen years later,

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the solution is exactly the same:

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It's about ensuring that they have access

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to this bar of soap,

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00:06:09,674 --> 00:06:11,419
and that they're using it,

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because that's the number one way

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00:06:13,379 --> 00:06:16,610
to actually stop cholera from spreading.

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I think this drive for profit

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00:06:19,010 --> 00:06:20,881
is extremely powerful,

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sometimes more powerful than

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00:06:22,341 --> 00:06:25,636
the most committed charity or government.

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Government is doing what they can,

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especially in terms of the pandemics

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and epidemics such as cholera,

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or Ebola at the moment,

156
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but with competing priorities.

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The budget is not always there.

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And when you think about this,

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you think about what is required

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to make handwashing a daily habit,

161
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it requires sustained funding

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to refine this behavior.

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00:06:53,070 --> 00:06:57,503
In short, those that fight for public health

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are actually dependent upon the soap companies

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to keep promoting handwashing with soap.

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We have friends like USAID,

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the Global Public-Private Partnership
for Handwashing with Soap,

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London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine,

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Plan, WaterAid,

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that all believe

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for a win-win-win partnership.

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Win for the public sector,

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because we help them reach their targets.

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Win for the private sector,

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because we build new generations

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of future handwashers.

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And most importantly,

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win for the most vulnerable.

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On October 15,

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we will celebrate Global Handwashing Day.

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Schools, communities,

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00:07:40,368 --> 00:07:42,248
our friends in the public sector

183
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and our friends in the private sector —

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yes, on that day even our competitors,

185
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we all join hands to celebrate

186
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the world's most important

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public health intervention.

188
00:07:53,160 --> 00:07:54,385
What's required,

189
00:07:54,385 --> 00:07:57,121
and again where the private sector
can make a huge difference,

190
00:07:57,121 --> 00:08:00,887
is coming up with this big, creative thinking

191
00:08:00,887 --> 00:08:03,128
that drives advocacy.

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If you take our Help a Child Reach 5 campaign,

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we've created great films

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that bring the message of handwashing with soap

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to the everyday person

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in a way that can relate to them.

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We've had over 30 million views.

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Most of these discussions are still happening online.

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I urge you to take five minutes

200
00:08:20,886 --> 00:08:24,943
and look at those films.

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00:08:24,943 --> 00:08:26,472
I come from Mali,

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00:08:26,472 --> 00:08:28,815
one of the world's poorest countries.

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00:08:28,815 --> 00:08:31,551
I grew up in a family where every dinner conversation

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was around social justice.

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00:08:33,729 --> 00:08:37,257
I trained in Europe's premier school of public health.

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00:08:37,257 --> 00:08:38,985
I think I'm probably one of the only women

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00:08:38,985 --> 00:08:42,426
in my country with this high degree in health,

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00:08:42,426 --> 00:08:43,910
and the only one

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with a doctorate in handwashing with soap.

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(Laughter)

211
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(Applause)

212
00:08:55,872 --> 00:08:58,223
Nine years ago, I decided,

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00:08:58,223 --> 00:09:01,136
with a successful public health career in the making,

214
00:09:01,136 --> 00:09:04,664
that I could make the biggest impact coming,

215
00:09:04,664 --> 00:09:07,695
selling and promoting the world's best invention

216
00:09:07,695 --> 00:09:10,230
in public health: soap.

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00:09:10,230 --> 00:09:12,359
We run today the world's largest

218
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handwashing program

219
00:09:13,730 --> 00:09:16,308
by any public health standards.

220
00:09:16,308 --> 00:09:19,780
We've reached over 183 million people

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in 16 countries.

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My team and I have the ambition

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to reach one billion by 2020.

224
00:09:28,564 --> 00:09:30,758
Over the last four years,

225
00:09:30,758 --> 00:09:33,486
business has grown double digits,

226
00:09:33,486 --> 00:09:35,423
whilst child mortality has reduced

227
00:09:35,423 --> 00:09:39,845
in all the places where soap use has increased.

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It may be uncomfortable for some to hear —

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business growth and lives saved

230
00:09:44,405 --> 00:09:47,918
somehow equated in the same sentence —

231
00:09:47,918 --> 00:09:49,837
but it is that business growth

232
00:09:49,837 --> 00:09:52,133
that allows us to keep doing more.

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Without it, and without talking about it,

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00:09:54,877 --> 00:09:58,925
we cannot achieve the change that we need.

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00:09:58,925 --> 00:10:01,110
Last week, my team and I

236
00:10:01,110 --> 00:10:04,406
spent time visiting mothers

237
00:10:04,406 --> 00:10:06,917
that have all experienced the same thing:

238
00:10:06,917 --> 00:10:09,349
the death of a newborn.

239
00:10:09,349 --> 00:10:12,349
I'm a mom. I can't imagine anything more powerful

240
00:10:12,349 --> 00:10:15,262
and more painful.

241
00:10:15,262 --> 00:10:17,894
This one is from Myanmar.

242
00:10:17,894 --> 00:10:19,900
She had the most beautiful smile,

243
00:10:19,900 --> 00:10:22,110
the smile, I think, that life gives you

244
00:10:22,110 --> 00:10:24,497
when you've had a second chance.

245
00:10:24,497 --> 00:10:27,831
Her son, Myo, is her second one.

246
00:10:27,831 --> 00:10:29,735
She had a daughter

247
00:10:29,735 --> 00:10:32,127
who passed away at three weeks,

248
00:10:32,127 --> 00:10:34,480
and we know that the majority

249
00:10:34,480 --> 00:10:35,820
of children that actually die

250
00:10:35,820 --> 00:10:37,686
die in the first month of their life,

251
00:10:37,686 --> 00:10:40,554
and we know that if we give a bar of soap

252
00:10:40,554 --> 00:10:42,814
to every skilled birth attendant,

253
00:10:42,814 --> 00:10:45,364
and that if soap is used 
before touching the babies,

254
00:10:45,364 --> 00:10:46,606
we can reduce and make a change

255
00:10:46,606 --> 00:10:48,650
in terms of those numbers.

256
00:10:48,650 --> 00:10:50,518
And that's what inspires me,

257
00:10:50,518 --> 00:10:52,750
inspires me to continue in this mission,

258
00:10:52,750 --> 00:10:55,134
to know that I can equip her

259
00:10:55,134 --> 00:10:56,939
with what's needed

260
00:10:56,939 --> 00:10:58,790
so that she can do

261
00:10:58,790 --> 00:11:00,854
the most beautiful job in the world:

262
00:11:00,854 --> 00:11:02,980
nurturing her newborn.

263
00:11:02,980 --> 00:11:05,285
And next time you think of a gift

264
00:11:05,285 --> 00:11:07,375
for a new mom and her family,

265
00:11:07,375 --> 00:11:10,165
don't look far: buy her soap.

266
00:11:10,165 --> 00:11:13,373
It's the most beautiful invention in public health.

267
00:11:13,373 --> 00:11:15,749
I hope you will join us

268
00:11:15,749 --> 00:11:18,701
and make handwashing part of your daily lives

269
00:11:18,701 --> 00:11:20,405
and our daily lives

270
00:11:20,405 --> 00:11:22,629
and help more children like Myo

271
00:11:22,629 --> 00:11:23,757
reach their fifth birthday.

272
00:11:23,757 --> 00:11:26,164
Thank you.

273
00:11:26,164 --> 00:11:28,378
(Applause)