WEBVTT

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So imagine that a plane is about to crash

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with 250 children and babies,

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

NOTE Paragraph

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Now imagine

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that 60 planes full of babies under five

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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.

NOTE Paragraph

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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

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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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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.

NOTE Paragraph

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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.

NOTE Paragraph

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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.

NOTE Paragraph

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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.

NOTE Paragraph

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So why is it?

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Why aren't people washing their hands?

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Why is it that Mayank,

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this young boy that I met in India,

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isn't washing his hands?

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Well, in Mayank's family,

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soap is used for bathing,

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soap is used for laundry,

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soap is used for washing dishes.

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His parents think sometimes

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it's a precious commodity,

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so they'll keep it in a cupboard.

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They'll keep it away from him so he doesn't waste it.

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On average, in Mayank's family,

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they will use soap for washing hands

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once a day

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at the very best, and sometimes

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even once a week for washing hands with soap.

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What's the result of that?

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Children pick up disease

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in the place that's supposed to love them

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and protect them the most, in their homes.

NOTE Paragraph

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Think about where you learned to wash your hands.

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Did you learn to wash your hands at home?

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Did you learn to wash your hands in school?

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I think behavioral scientists will tell you

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that it's very difficult to change the habits

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that you have had early in life.

NOTE Paragraph

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However, we all copy what everyone else does,

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and local cultural norms are something

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that shape how we change our behavior,

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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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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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handwashing with soap and
hygiene to these mothers.

NOTE Paragraph

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Big businesses and brands can change

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and shift those social norms

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and make a difference for those habits

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that are so stubborn.

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Think about it:

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Marketeers spend all their time

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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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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.

NOTE Paragraph

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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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and that they're using it,

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because that's the number one way

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to actually stop cholera from spreading.

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I think this drive for profit

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is extremely powerful,

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sometimes more powerful than

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the most committed charity or government.

NOTE Paragraph

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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,

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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,

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it requires sustained funding

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to refine this behavior.

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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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our friends in the public sector

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and our friends in the private sector —

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yes, on that day even our competitors,

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we all join hands to celebrate

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the world's most important

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public health intervention.

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What's required,

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and again where the private sector
can make a huge difference,

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is coming up with this big, creative thinking

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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

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and look at those films.

NOTE Paragraph

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I come from Mali,

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one of the world's poorest countries.

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I grew up in a family where every dinner conversation

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was around social justice.

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I trained in Europe's premier school of public health.

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I think I'm probably one of the only women

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in my country with this high degree in health,

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and the only one

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with a doctorate in handwashing with soap.

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(Laughter)

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(Applause)

NOTE Paragraph

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Nine years ago, I decided,

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with a successful public health career in the making,

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that I could make the biggest impact coming,

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selling and promoting the world's best invention

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in public health: soap.

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We run today the world's largest

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handwashing program

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by any public health standards.

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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.

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Over the last four years,

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business has grown double digits,

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whilst child mortality has reduced

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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

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somehow equated in the same sentence —

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but it is that business growth

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that allows us to keep doing more.

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Without it, and without talking about it,

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we cannot achieve the change that we need.

NOTE Paragraph

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Last week, my team and I

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spent time visiting mothers

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that have all experienced the same thing:

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the death of a newborn.

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I'm a mom. I can't imagine anything more powerful

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and more painful.

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This one is from Myanmar.

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She had the most beautiful smile,

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the smile, I think, that life gives you

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when you've had a second chance.

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Her son, Myo, is her second one.

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She had a daughter

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who passed away at three weeks,

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and we know that the majority

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of children that actually die

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die in the first month of their life,

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and we know that if we give a bar of soap

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to every skilled birth attendant,

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and that if soap is used 
before touching the babies,

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we can reduce and make a change

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in terms of those numbers.

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And that's what inspires me,

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inspires me to continue in this mission,

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to know that I can equip her

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with what's needed

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so that she can do

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the most beautiful job in the world:

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nurturing her newborn.

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And next time you think of a gift

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for a new mom and her family,

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don't look far: buy her soap.

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It's the most beautiful invention in public health.

NOTE Paragraph

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I hope you will join us

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and make handwashing part of your daily lives

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and our daily lives

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and help more children like Myo

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reach their fifth birthday.

NOTE Paragraph

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Thank you.

NOTE Paragraph

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(Applause)