It's no coincidence that hospitals around the world join forces with the World Health Organisation (WHO) to celebrate "International Hand Hygiene Day" on 5 May each year to raise awareness of the importance of hand hygiene. Because if we put our open hands next to each other for once, that's exactly what we see: 5 and 5. And if everyone pays a little bit more attention to thorough hand hygiene, that's definitely a high five for the health of us all.
Cleaning at the right time
WHO launched the SAVE LIVES: Clean Your Hands campaign back in 2009 to raise awareness for improving hand hygiene in health care globally. The core message of the annual campaign is that all health workers should clean their hands at the right time and in the right way:
1. Before touching a patient.
2. Before a clean/aseptic procedure.
3. After contact with body fluids.
4. After touching a patient.
5. After touching the patient's surroundings.
Clean hands when visiting a health facility
Good hand hygiene is a simple but effective way to improve patient safety. And in healthcare, everyone has a role to play in this, not just healthcare workers. Patients, residents and visitors should also practice good hand hygiene during their time in a healthcare facility, especially:
1. When entering and leaving a patient's room.
2. Before and after touching a patient or resident.
3. After using the toilet.
When using hand sanitisers, always remember to use enough to wet the hands thoroughly. Fingertips, thumbs and the spaces between the fingers should not be forgotten. With a well-formulated product, such as PURELL® hand sanitisers, this should take about 15 - 20 seconds.
Hand hygiene: a healthy habit that stays
The past few years have seen an increased focus on many public health containment measures around the world, including hand hygiene - something that has played an important role in patient care in healthcare facilities for many decades. Now that the public better understands the importance of killing disease-causing germs through proper hand hygiene, we certainly all hope that the healthy habit of hand washing and hand sanitising will be maintained and become an enduring routine.
GOJO as a supporter of global public health
GOJO is one of the founding members of the WHO Private Organizations for Patient Safety (POPS) initiative, which was launched on International Hand Hygiene Day in 2012. POPS enables WHO and private organisations to work together to improve hand hygiene education.
GOJO has been committed to making hand cleansing safer around the world for 75 years and is a leader in the science of formulation and the development of dispensing systems to ensure that every dose of hand cleanser or hand sanitiser delivers a safe, effective and pleasant result.
