WORLD HAND HYGIENE DAY
World Hand Hygiene Day – May 5
World Hand Hygiene Day, observed on May 5, is a global initiative led by the World Health Organization (WHO) to promote the importance of hand hygiene in healthcare settings and daily life. Proper handwashing with soap and water or using alcohol-based hand sanitizers is a simple yet effective way to prevent the spread of infections, including COVID-19, influenza, and healthcare-associated infections (HAIs). This day emphasizes the role of healthcare workers, policymakers, and the public in maintaining good hand hygiene to protect patients and reduce the burden of infectious diseases. By reinforcing hygiene practices, World Hand Hygiene Day supports safer healthcare and stronger infection control worldwide.
Resources
Save Lives, Clean your Hands
Epidemics of diseases such as COVID-19, Ebola Virus Disease and Lassa fever have shown how rapidly cases increase from a few cases of infection due to poor Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) practices. IPC is key to prevention of infection in patients and healthcare workers. Most studies conducted on IPC are mainly in high income countries, there is a dearth of literature on IPC in low- and middle-income countries. According to the World Health Organization, programs to support IPC are particularly important in low- and middle-income countries where healthcare delivery and medical hygiene standards may be affected by secondary infections. Hand hygiene is one of the most important aspects of IPC, in some health facilities in low- and middle-income countries, the availability of adequate water supply and other materials for hand hygiene; awareness of and compliance with the moments for hand hygiene may all be constraints that affect adequate hand hygiene.
Accelerate Action Together. SAVE LIVES – Clean Your Hands
The campaign theme for this year’s World Hand Hygiene Day is, “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.” While the slogan is, "Accelerate action together. SAVE LIVES – Clean Your Hands," the campaign objectives for the World Hand Hygiene Day 2023 are to:
- Strengthen and empower communities of actors in health care to accelerate action to improve hand hygiene and infection prevention and control at the point of care.
- Foster collaboration and working together of people and organizations towards the common goal of minimizing the risk of infections and the development of antimicrobial resistance in health care.
World Hand Hygiene Day
A blog post written by ISID Emerging Leader, Afreenish Amir
World Hand Hygiene Day is celebrated on May 5 every year. This day aims to raise awareness about the importance of hand hygiene in healthcare settings. The goal is to encourage healthcare workers to practice good hand hygiene, which is a crucial step in preventing the spread of infections and saving lives. The theme of Hand Hygiene Day for 2024 targets to promote knowledge and capacity building of healthcare workers through innovative and impactful training and education on infection prevention and control 1.
The Focus is on Training, Education and Taking Action!
The campaign theme for this year’s World Hand Hygiene Day is, “Promoting knowledge and capacity building of health care workers through innovative and impactful training and education on infection prevention and control, including hand hygiene.” The focus is on training education and taking action! Taking action is key as it is not enough to be trained on hand hygiene but hand hygiene needs to be practiced correctly and consistently for proper Infection prevention and control.
Science, Significance, and the Global Call to Action
A blog post written by ISID Emerging Leaders, Nadia Noreen & Nelisiwe Mhlabane
Each year on May 5, World Hand Hygiene Day is observed globally, spearheaded by the World Health Organization (WHO) to highlight the vital importance of hand hygiene in preventing infections and strengthening infection prevention and control (IPC) practices. The WHO Framework for Action 2024-2030 emphasizes the importance of universal access to safe WASH and effective waste management as essential components of quality healthcare. It calls for integrating WASH and waste considerations into all aspects of health system planning, implementation, financing, and monitoring areas that can be strengthened through infection prevention and control (IPC) initiatives.