World Hand Hygiene Day 2023
Accelerate Action Together. SAVE LIVES – Clean Your Hands
World Hand Hygiene Day takes place on May 05, 2023. The day is declared by the World Health Organization and encourages clients and their family members to join health care workers in their efforts to practice good hand hygiene.
The hands of health care workers play a critical role in keeping clients safe. If you do not clean your hands at the right moments, using the proper methods, you can transmit infection-causing microorganisms through your hands from one client to another. Performing hand hygiene reduces the transmission of infection and increases client safety.
- Hand hygiene with alcohol-based hand rub – correctly applied – kills organisms in seconds.
- Hand hygiene with soap and water – done correctly – removes organisms.
- Alcohol-based hand rub is the preferred method for cleaning hands.
- Handwashing with soap and running water must be done when hands are visibly soiled.
- If running water is not available, use moistened towelettes to remove the visible soil, followed by alcohol-based hand rub.
Performing hand hygiene at key moments is an important health care intervention.
Four Moments for Hand Hygiene for healthcare professionals:
- Before contact with client and client’s environment
- Before clean or aseptic procedure
- After exposure to blood or body fluids
- After contact with a client or client’s environment
Health and hygiene go hand-in-hand. Let’s continue to practice effective, timely hand hygiene, as this is a cornerstone of infection prevention and control.
Resources: