World Hand Hygiene Day

May 5

World Hand Hygiene Day

World Hand Hygiene Day is marked every year on May 5. The purpose of this day is to raise awareness of the importance of handwashing. Handwashing prevents the spread of infections. Each year on May 5, the “Save lives: Clean Your Hands” campaign takes place. It is part of a major global effort led by the World Health Organization (WHO). The objective is to mobilize people around the world to increase adherence to hand hygiene. This pertains to all healthcare settings. Handwashing protects healthcare workers and patients from healthcare-associated infections caused by various pathogens.

Saving Lives

Hand hygiene saves millions of lives every year when performed at the right moments during health care delivery. It is also a smart investment that offers exceptional return for each dollar invested.  Clean care is a sign of respect to those who seek care, and it protects health and other workers who provide that care.

Now is a critical time when countries across the world need to accelerate implementation of lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic and increase investments to close gaps in infection prevention and control (IPC). This includes hand hygiene. Indeed, many countries are demonstrating strong engagement and advancements in scaling-up those actions, but overall, the progress is slow, and gains are at risk.

Together, we can galvanize action on preventing infections and antimicrobial resistance in health care. Strong and engaged communities of health workers, policy makers and civil society organizations (CSOs) can accelerate and sustain action at the point of care to keep people safe and healthy.

Hand Hygiene Guidance

Healthcare personnel should use an alcohol-based hand rub or wash with soap and water for the following clinical indications:

Immediately before touching a patient
Before performing an aseptic task (e.g., placing an indwelling device) or handling invasive medical devices
Before moving from work on a soiled body site to a clean body site on the same patient
After touching a patient or the patient’s immediate environment
After contact with blood, body fluids, or contaminated surfaces
Immediately after glove removal

Healthcare facilities should:

Require healthcare personnel to perform hand hygiene in accordance with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommendations
Ensure that healthcare personnel perform hand hygiene with soap and water when hands are visibly soiled
Ensure that supplies necessary for adherence to hand hygiene are readily accessible in all areas where patient care is being delivered

Unless hands are visibly soiled, an alcohol-based hand rub is preferred over soap and water in most clinical situations due to evidence of better compliance compared to soap and water. Hand rubs are generally less irritating to hands and, in the absence of a sink, are an effective method of cleaning hands.