Each year on 5th of May, the “SAVE LIVES: Clean Your Hands” campaign takes place as part of a major global effort led by the World Health Organization (WHO) to improve hand hygiene in healthcare settings. The campaign mobilises people around the world to increase adherence to hand hygiene in all healthcare settings, thus protecting healthcare workers and patients from healthcare-associated infections by other pathogens.
In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, hand hygiene is one of the most effective public health interventions at hand to reduce the spread of the virus in the absence of a Vaccine. Washing hands regularly with soap and water seems simple enough, but it can have a huge impact on personal and public health.
The World Health Organization has called on Ministries of Health worldwide, healthcare facilities, front line health workers, communities, and all partners around the world to mobilise around hand hygiene practices, as a measure for infection prevention and control, including Covid-19.
The 2020 campaign launched by WHO targets the following measures:
- Make hand hygiene a global priority
- Inspire hand hygiene and behaviour change
- Engage with health care workers in their role in clean care and the prevention of infections.
Let us be mindful, that for 3 billion people around the world who do not have basic handwashing facilities with water and soap at home, this small action to prevent infection remains out of reach. While also helping people understand the benefits of handwashing through educational and behavioural tools and tactics, let us advocate for a universal access to fixed and portable handwashing facilities, soap or alcohol-based hand rubs, and reliable water supplies and hygienic products.
#SafeHands #SAVE LIVES: Clean your hands
Related project
Improving the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene sector in DR Congo
