GlaxoSmithKline's PHASE Program

GlaxoSmithKline's Personal Hygiene & Sanitation Education (PHASE) project is helping to reduce diarrhea-related disease by encouraging school children to wash their hands. GSK established PHASE in 1998 and has so far invested over USD 7 million in the program. PHASE is run in partnership with AMREF, Save the Children and Earth Institute at Columbia University, as well as national Ministries of Health and Education in countries where the program is active. The program has had impressive results so far. For example, a study by AMREF in Kenya showed that after four years, 88% of children from participating schools washed their hands after using the toilet, compared with 46% from non-participating schools. PHASE was extended to Millennium Villages in Malawi and Senegal during 2008 and now operates in a total of 13 countries. The aim is for the program to reach over 1 million children by next year. GSK has a PHASE steering committee with representatives from its partner organizations to help expand the program into more countries. In 2009, PHASE was extended to the Philippines and Rio de Janeiro in Brazil.