MANILA, Philippines — Five Colgate-Palmolive manufacturing plants have mobilized to produce 25 million bars of soap in support of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) #SafeHands effort, and 1 million of those bars will be donated to people in need in the Philippines to help stop the spread of COVID-19.

According to WHO, which is offering updated COVID-19 advice to the public, proper handwashing is critical to slow the spread of the disease. However, a combination of low access to quality soap and a lack of knowledge of how to properly wash hands to kill the virus is a challenge, particularly in many vulnerable communities around the world.

To help overcome these obstacles, Colgate-Palmolive is producing the new soap and promoting proper handwashing across various media platforms. The soap is specially packaged with instructions on proper handwashing to amplify the WHO #SafeHands message.