42970
              SOAP BOX                                   ĦRocio agradable!" In Peru, too, our new
                                                         PPPHWI coordinator has started her new
                                                         job. The Swiss Cooperation and USAID are
     The PPP Handwashing                                 providing technical and financial support
                                                         along with the Ministry of Health, which has
        Initiative Newsletter                            endorsed the initiative. Partnerships will be
                                                         investigated with Alicorp, a strong local
                   March 2003                            company, as well as the subsidiaries of the
                                                         three soap multinationals.


PPPHWI's cost-effectiveness                              In China, Anhui Province sent a proposal to
                                                         pilot the PPPHWI in one county with a
Resources available are scarce compared to               population of 1 million people. Anhui has
needs, so it is imperative that they be used in          proposed that the pilot cost be shared
the manner that produces the greatest possible           equally between the external partners and
benefits. A cost-effectiveness study of the              themselves. Agreement on the project
BASICS Handwashing Initiative will be                    funding and next steps will be determined
conducted in Central America and applied up-             with Anhui officials during a mission there in
front in Peru. By comparing the project's costs          June.
and benefits--as well as measuring its health
impact--we will know whether handwashing is              In Nepal, the World Bank and UNICEF have
a "good buy" for the public purse.                       finalized an agreement to transfer funds to
                                                         UNICEF to implement the first phase of the
                                                         handwashing initiative (February to August
Pilot countries update                                   2003). The work is moving ahead and the
In Ghana, we have begun the communication                bid for consumer research has been
strategy preparation by recruiting a creative            launched. EHP/USAID are closely involved
firm to develop ideas on the basis of insights           in providing technical assistance. A task
on handwashing behavior identified in last               force-- comprised of the interested
year's consumer study. The firm will also                stakeholders-UNICEF, soap producers, the
develop and test the materials. At a video-              public sector, and EHP/USAID--will be
conference in May, international marketing               created to guide the project.
experts will critique the handwashing campaign
design, and we will post news on this exciting
event soon! The campaign is scheduled to be              Drums in Kyoto
officially launched on August 14th.                      The PPPHW Initiative was showcased at the

In Kerala, dialogue with the state government            Kyoto 3rd WWF at three sessions: the

and the private sector continues, and the                WASH campaign, the WHO meeting on safe

project document has been revised. The team              water in households, and "Innovative

will visit Kerala in April to discuss the changes        Approaches to PPPs." Our video (which

and seek a policy commitment from the State              includes footage of Nelson Mandela

government to implement the program.                     washing his hands with soap!) also received
                                                         very positive feedback.


New countries on board!                                  Handwashing friends
"Bienvenue Ali!" In Senegal, the lead
agency, Office National de l'Assainissement du           Discover other initiatives for public health

Senegal, has recruited our new PPPHWI                    and handwashing around the world:

coordinator. Ali will be responsible for                 · International Development Enterprises

managing the consumer research, mobilizing                    (IDE): sanitation and hygiene market-

partners, raising funds, and developing a                     based promotion in rural Vietnam:

workplan. Along with WSP, UNICEF will play a                  www.idevn.org.

critical role in the initiative, in particular for the   · Henry the Hand:
school component. Our main private sector                     http://www.henrythehand.com
partners will be Colgate-Palmolive and two local
companies, SAF and Gainde.