Every year, over 3.5 million children die from diarrhea or acute respiratory distress. The most poignant part of this figure is that these deaths are almost entirely preventable, simply by ensuring that each person in a community is practicing proper hygiene. Studies find that handwashing with soap before eating or cooking and after using the toilet can lower diarrhea induced deaths by more than 40% and acute respiratory infections by 23%. In developing countries, people are less likely to wash their hands at critical moments, thus spreading disease in a myriad of ways. The problem with practicing proper hygiene is generally due to an availability of fresh running water, awareness of handwashing benefits, a lack of understanding of how illness spreads, and uncultivated hygiene habits.

But how do you convince entire groups of people to start washing their hands?

Photo Credit: tippytap.

Meet the Tippy Tap, a simple and innovative…