6 Could 2025, Cairo, Egypt – “It could be gloves. It is all the time hand hygiene”, the theme of this yr’s World Hand Hygiene Day (WHHD), emphasizing the important function of hand hygiene as a easy but highly effective and cost-saving an infection prevention and management (IPC) intervention, alongside the significance of acceptable glove use and the necessity to concentrate on the environmental influence of gloves on medical waste era.
Held every year on 5 Could, WHHD highlights hand hygiene as a easy but highly effective intervention that may defend sufferers, well being care employees and guests from hurt brought on by avoidable well being care-associated infections (HAIs).
The Global action plan and monitoring framework (GAPMF) on infection prevention and control (IPC) 2024-2030 units hand hygiene compliance as a key nationwide indicator, to be established in all reference hospitals by the tip of 2026. At the moment, simply 68% of nations report implementation.
Within the Jap Mediterranean Area an estimated 40% of well being care services lack primary hygiene companies, and 71% lack complete well being care waste administration companies. The statistics underscore the necessity for funding in water, sanitation, hygiene and waste (WASH) companies to enhance an infection prevention and management implementation.
The World Well being Group (WHO) performs a number one function in selling hand hygiene practices, not least by means of the annual WHHD marketing campaign. Among the many suggestions WHO is selling this yr are:
optimum hand hygiene practices utilizing the WHO 5 Moments for hand hygiene and acceptable glove use inside well being care workflows. (It is very important keep in mind that medical gloves get contaminated as simply as naked palms. They don’t provide 100% safety. Gloves must be eliminated, for instance, after touching a affected person and hand hygiene carried out instantly as per the WHO 5 Moments);
integration of hand hygiene into nationwide IPC methods and facility-level normal working procedures;
consciousness elevating in regards to the environmental influence of improper use of gloves on waste era and administration. Extreme glove use contributes considerably to the quantity of well being care waste. Acceptable glove use and hand hygiene will help reduce this. Utilizing gloves when not indicated wastes sources and doesn’t essentially scale back the transmission of germs; and
correct glove use to assist stop the unfold of infections. Gloves usually are not an alternative choice to hand hygiene. They need to be used solely when essential, and hand hygiene practiced earlier than and after glove use.
Improved IPC, together with hand hygiene and WASH, is urgently wanted to offer minimal safety and meet HAIs and antimicrobial resistance discount targets. Governments and well being authorities are urged to prioritize integration of hand hygiene into nationwide IPC methods and be sure that all well being care services have normal working procedures for hand hygiene.
On WHHD, WHO offers varied sources, together with tips, posters and digital badges, to help hand hygiene campaigns. WHO additionally gives a Hand Hygiene Self-Assessment Framework to judge hand hygiene practices in well being care services.
By working along with stakeholders and companions to advertise hand hygiene we will help stop the unfold of infections, together with infections brought on by antimicrobial-resistant pathogens.
