The Global Hygiene Summit 2023, organised in partnership with the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (Singapore), and in collaboration with the World Bank, is being hosted in Singapore on the 15th and 16th February 2023.
Professor Yee Sin Leo, Executive Director, NCID said: "Hygiene generally refers to conditions and practices that help to maintain health and prevent the spread of diseases. Despite its intimate link to health, hygiene is ill-defined and often intertwined with socioeconomic status, and cultural belief and practices. Hygiene is a fundamental pre-requisite for sustainable public health and with our dual mission of clinical and public health, NCID is pleased to partner for this inaugural summit in Singapore. Leveraging on prominent stakeholders, this summit will elevate hygiene to the highest global agenda in promoting and sustaining health."
The Reckitt Global Hygiene Institute (RGHI), a not-for-profit foundation that was established in 2020 with a multi-year $25 million grant from Reckitt, RGHI is focussed on plugging significant gaps in the health research space and improving access to information that will bridge epidemiology, public health, and behaviour change. The Global Hygiene Summit will align with this aim by informing the global health agenda stimulating discussion that could lead to the adoption of better and more sustainable hygienic practises globally.
The event will create a forum for multi-level and multi-disciplinary discussions around hygiene science, behaviour, economics, and real-world experiences and outcomes. It will bring together scientists, politicians, the private sector and civil society to generate impact through the intersection between health and hygiene ~ which is vital to safeguarding the physical and economic wellbeing of populations worldwide, both amid COVID-19 and beyond.
By articulating the shape, scope and importance of the hygiene field, motivating multi-level and multi-disciplinary working by bridging epidemiology, behaviour and policy, the Global Hygiene Summit intends to gain consensus on how to effectively measure and create behavioural change and economic impact (ROI), and how to present this to engage policymakers.
Global Hygiene Summit 2023 will also motivate the [Singapore] Declaration; a guide for structural change that will be brought about by co-discussion and global co-operation and set the agenda for future change.
The Global Hygiene Summit will create clarity around hygiene and the positive impact that improved standards could have on global health, including in the COVID-19 recovery period.