This week for World Hand Hygiene Day, RGHI is celebrating the work of Dr. Ian Ross, whose research is helping identify which hygiene and sanitation interventions deliver the greatest impact for the investment.

Each year, the WHO Save Lives: Clean Your Hands campaign focuses on infection prevention and control, mobilising healthcare professionals and communities worldwide to champion better hand hygiene practices. This directly supports the journey towards Universal Health Coverage (UHC), helping ensure everyone has access to quality health care services, improved health and wellbeing and financial risk protection regardless of where they live.

Handwashing with soap is proven to be one of the most effective ways to prevent the spread of infectious diseases, yet 40% of households globally lack basic handwashing facilities. This contributes to more than 500,000 preventable deaths annually. Although the impact is clear, the economic justification for hand hygiene interventions is still underdeveloped. Limited budgets and varying priorities make it difficult for governments and implementers to make informed decisions on where to allocate resources. Dr. Ian Ross’s research aims to improve the economic evidence base for hygiene and sanitation interventions through three key components:

• Synthesising existing evidence to identify the most cost-effective handwashing promotion strategies, such as how frequently hygiene promoters should visit households, and which approaches lead to sustainable behaviour change
• Developing new methods to measure non-health benefits, including quality-of-life improvements and time savings, and translating these into monetary terms.
• Applying these methods to a real-world programme in rural Malawi, run by World Vision, to calculate the costs and understand the benefits of handwashing and sanitation interventions.

“World Hand Hygiene Day is an important reminder that simple interventions can save lives. There’s a reason handwashing is often the first thing people think of when they think of hygiene – it’s fundamental! At RGHI, we’re proud to spotlight researchers such as Dr. Ian Ross, whose research is making it easier for decision-makers to invest in effective hygiene intervention. His work has the potential to influence hygiene policy in dozens of countries, proving that hand hygiene delivers both ethical and economic returns”.

– Sarah Roberts, RGHI Executive Director 

The RGHI Spotlights Series showcases researchers’ inspiring work on improving global hygiene and health outcomes. Each post highlights a project funded through an RGHI grant or fellowship, detailing its goals, progress, and potential impact. These spotlights celebrate innovation and collaboration in tackling some of the world’s most pressing hygiene challenges.

Stay tuned for more next week and keep up to date with the latest RGHI news on LinkedIn and BlueSky.

To explore more RGHI-funded research, explore the research portfolio here.