Manipal: The Guinness Book of World Records has confirmed a place in the history for Kasturba Hospital, a unit of Manipal University here, by recognising its Hand Sanitization Relay held on the occasion of Global Hand Washing Day on 15 October, 2016 as a World Record.
Kasturba Hospital achieved the distinction by improving upon the earlier record of 1711 held by Indraprastha Apollo Hospital, New Delhi with a count of 3422.

The event itself witnessed a marathon exercise by the hospital personnel assisted by the health sciences institutions of Manipal University and others from the neighbouring district of Dakshina Kannada. It began at 7 am in the morning and ended at around midnight. Over 5,000 faculty, students and staff had registered to take part. The event closed after 3,422 persons had completed the task of washing hands and Guinness has accepted the same number for the record.

The Guinness Book of World Records certificate was received last week by the Manipal University. It was officially handed over to Dr (Col) M Dayananda, Medical Superintendent and COO of Kasturba Hospital, Manipal by Dr. H. S. Ballal, Pro-Chancellor of Manipal University in the Board Room at Manipal University building on Friday, 13January 2017. Dr. H Vinod Bhat, Vice Chancellor of Manipal University and Dr. Narayana Sabhahit, Registrar were present on the occasion.

There were 75 stewards, 9 witnesses and 8 time keepers who ensured smooth conduct of the programme at Marena on the jogging track and were closely monitored by external judges. On completion of the hand washing relay, the details were sent to the Guinness Book of World Records at London. Following the evaluation by the technical team, Guinness Book of World Records declared Kasturba Hospital as an official record holder.