WORLD HAND HYGIENE DAY MAY-05

WORLD HAND HYGIENE DAY

MAY-05

 

World Hand Hygiene Day is obse
rved on the 5th of May every year and it aims to promote the importance of hand hygiene in preventing the spread of infection and promote good health.

When a health facility's "quality and safety climate or culture" values hand hygiene and infection prevention and control (IPC), this results in both patients and health workers feeling protected and cared for.

To prioritize clean hands in health facilities, people at all levels need to believe in the importance of hand hygiene and IPC to save lives, by acting as key players in achieving the appropriate behaviours and attitudes towards it. In other words, health workers at all levels and people accessing health care facilities need to unite on ensuring clean hands.

This year's theme for World Hand Hygiene Day, 5 May 2022, is focused on recognizing that we can add to a facility's climate or culture of safety and quality through cleaning our hands but also that a strong quality and safety culture will encourage people to clean hands at the right times and with the right products.

The invitation is to engage in the campaign and keep in mind the theme for World Hand Hygiene Day 2023: “Together, we can accelerate action to prevent infections and antimicrobial resistance in health care and build a culture of safety and quality in which hand hygiene improvement is given high priority.”

Unite, talk and work together on hand hygiene for high quality safer care everywhere.Health care workers: thank you for leading by example and encouraging others to clean their hands.Hand hygiene saves millions of lives every year when performed at the right time and in the right way during health care delivery, while improving hand hygiene in health care settings saves approximately US$ 16.5 in health care expenditure for every US dollar invested.

WHO believes that no one receiving or providing health care should be exposed to the risk of being harmed by a preventable infection. Hand hygiene and cleanliness provide dignity and are a sign of respect to those who are seeking care and facilitate the work of those delivering it.Preventing an infection and its spread can have huge benefits in reducing human suffering and loss of lives.

Prof. John Kurakar