The UN is staging the world’s first hand-washing day today, when children across South Asia will be washing their hands simultaneously.

This may appear a gimmick to some, intended more for children than adults, but I believe this is one of the greatest steps towards combating the spread of human disease. I always wash my hands when using the bathroom, few people would want to admit otherwise, but this basic premise of personal hygiene is frequently overlooked. I often see people rinse their hands under a tap, give a quick shake of the wrists, and they’re done. If we don’t wash our hands properly then the germs go on the door handle of the bathroom, along with every other person’s. No one wants to be seen as having a form of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, often characterised by hand-washing, so comments are usually restrained.

It is said that if everyone washed their hands regularly we would cut the amount of colds circulating the UK by half. In countries where killer diseases are rife, washing hands at the right time can reportedly reduce diarrhoeal diseases by over 40% and respiratory infections by 30%.

The film Donnie Darko contained the quirky character Donnie explaining that the greatest invention in human history was antiseptic in 1895, as it was the first time there was sanitation in medicine. But over 100 years later nations are still struggling to give soap the priority it needs and nearly half the world does not have access to basic sanitation.

Perhaps the next act could be to pass a law making access to free soap a basic human right. Sounds extreme, but like the UN Hand-washing day, it could be one of the best decisions ever made. However, it is not just access to soap that would make the difference, education is vital too. In previous years the Western World has found it easy to assume that the discipline of hygiene is well established, but the rise in ‘superbugs’ and MRSA has been caused by serious lapses in hospital hygiene. Also, the BBC reported in May that many office keyboards were ‘dirtier than a toilet’, with five times more germs than office loos. If sanitation access and education were spread across the globe the world would be changed dramatically for the better.