Happy Friday readers! End the week with the latest in global health and NTD news. Today we’re reading about:

Soap ‘n’ Water, please: campaign aims to make handwashing a habit in China
“A battalion of more than 300 hungry elementary school students storm toward the dining hall, eager to get their hands on mantou,or steamed bread. Washing their hands prior is required by teachers, but with only eight hand-washing stations, the words are ignored by many, because evidently, appetite trumps cleanliness. But there are some students at Zhongxun Elementary School in Dancun Town, northwest China’s Shaanxi province, realizing the importance of washing hands.”

Sydney University health fund to fight disease in East Timor
“The University of Sydney has established a charitable fund which will collaborate with the country’s Ministry of Health, the National University of East Timor and the World Health Organisation to help improve health care in a range of areas. The relationships already exist but this new fund will channel money into new and ongoing projects, including a focus on three common and debilitating infections.”

Jemma Kidd Speaks out About Unnecessary Blindness in Ethiopia and Launches the Jemma Kidd VISIONfund
“Moved and humbled by the fact that blinding diseases can be prevented for as little as 25p, founder of Jemma Kidd Make Up, Jemma Kidd, speaks out on the shocking reality that 10 million people in Ethiopia suffer from disease causing blindness and 100% needlessly so. During a recent trip to Ethiopia with sight-saving charity ORBIS, Jemma saw first-hand how a disease that is no longer prevalent in the West is devastating lives, leaving families and communities facing hardship, suffering and isolation, making every day a struggle to survive. Trachoma is a highly contagious bacterial infection of the eye, causing inflamed granulation on the inner surface of the lids. If left untreated, it can turn the eyelid inward, causing the eyelashes to scar the delicate cornea, resulting in agonising pain and permanent blindness.”