Health care-associated infection (HCAI) places a serious disease burden and has a significant economic impact on patients and health-care systems throughout the world. Yet good hand hygiene, the
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simple task of cleaning hands at the right times and in the right way, can save lives. World Health Organization (WHO) has developed evidence-based WHO Guidelines on Hand Hygiene in Health Care to support health-care facilities to improve hand hygiene and thus reduce HCAI.
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This report is the first of its kind. It brings together various data sets to present the current status of hand hygiene, highlight lagging progress, and call governments and supporting agencies to
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action, offering numerous inspiring examples of change.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, hand hygiene received unprecedented attention and became a central pillar in national COVID prevention strategies. However, concern with hand hygiene should not only be as temporary public health measure in times of crisis, but as a vital everyday behaviour that contributes to health and economic resilience. Hand hygiene is a highly cost-effective investment, providing outsized health benefits for relatively little cost.
Despite efforts to promote hand hygiene, the rates of access to hand hygiene facilities remain stubbornly low. If current rates of progress continue, by the end of the SDG era in 2030, 1.9 billion people will still lack facilities to wash their hands at home.
This report presents a compelling case for investment in five key ‘accelerators’ as a pathway towards achieving hand hygiene for all – governance, financing, capacity development, data and information, and innovation. These accelerators are identified under the UN-Water SDG 6 Global Acceleration Framework.
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In collaboration with partners, the government of Ethiopia has successfully developed 10 years Hand Hygiene for All (HH4A) costed national roadmap- a country-wide approach to achieving sustainable a
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nd universal hand hygiene. On the occasion of the 2022 Global Hand Washing Day event ( Ethiopia is celebrating the event for one month with different sessions), the national HH4A road map launched on the 4th of Nov 2022 in a high-level advocacy event in the presence of higher officials and partners. Action is set mainly on the need for a joint effort to mobilize resources for implementation, monitoring and documenting of lessons and best practices.
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A Guide to the Application of the WHO Multimodal Hand HygieneImprovement Strategy and the “My Five Moments for Hand Hygiene”Αpproach
A manual to train health-care workers on practising, teaching and observing hand hygiene.
Confronted with the important issue of patient safety, in 2002 the Fifty-fifth World Health Assembly adopted a resolution urging countries to pay the closest possible attention to the problem and to strengthen safety and monitoring systems. In May 2004, the Fifty-seventh World Health Assembly approv
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ed the creation of an international alliance as a global initiative to improve patient safety. The World Alliance for Patient Safety was launched in October 2004 and currently has its place in the WHO Patient Safety programme included in the Information, Evidence and Research Cluster.
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First Global Patient Safety Challenge Clean Care is Safer Care
The WHO Guidelines on Hand Hygiene in Health Care provide health-care workers (HCWs), hospital administrators and health authorities w
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ith a thorough review of evidence on hand hygiene in health care and specific recommendations to improve practices and reduce transmission of pathogenic microorganisms to patients and HCWs. The present Guidelines are intended to be implemented in any situation in which health care is delivered either to a patient or to a specific group in a population. Therefore, this concept applies to all settings where health care is permanently or occasionally performed, such as home care by birth attendants.
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Hand hygiene is vital for safe health care delivery, yet practices at the point of care remain suboptimal worldwide. A comprehensive research agenda is therefore necessary to improve our understandi
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ng of factors influencing hand hygiene behaviour and to strengthen appropriate interventions. This agenda will provide insightful ideas for researchers to focus their projects and funding proposals and will direct donors towards the areas of hand hygiene evidence that require urgent support and innovation. It will also guide decision-makers and stakeholders at the national and international level and support country efforts in updating and strengthening hand hygiene promotion programmes. Global collaboration and investment in hand hygiene research remain essential to promote safe and effective care worldwide.
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Recommendations of the Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee and the HICPAC/SHEA/APIC/IDSA Hand Hygiene Task Force
The Hand Hygiene Self-Assessment Framework is a systematic tool with which to obtain a situation analysis of hand
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hygiene promotion and practices within an individual health-care facility.
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Investment in all the drivers and facilitators of hand hygiene action in health care to ensure that it occurs at the point of care and other critical moments requires a multidisciplinary, multifacet
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ed approach. WHO describes such an approach as a “multimodal improvement strategy” (MMIS) which is at the core of its implementation models for hand hygiene and infection prevention and control (IPC) programmes. The focus of this document is on the resource considerations for investing in hand hygiene improvement in health care (primary, secondary and tertiary) using the MMIS approach.
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The WHO and UNICEF-led Hand Hygiene for All Initiative aims at ensuring implementation for WHO's global recommendations on hand
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hygiene to prevent and control COVID-19 pandemic, and hand hygiene improvement sustainability in countries as a mainstay of wider infection prevention and control (IPC) and water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) efforts.
But how can hand hygiene implementation be successful? By implementing strategies and approaches proven through the successes of the WHO Save Lives: Clean Your Hands campaign and fostering integration between hand hygiene and WASH improvements. This brief draws on learning from legacy work and the current evidence based and summarizes how joint action and collaboration are essential for successful strategies, in the context of the COVID-19 response and beyond
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Three billion people – 40 per cent of the world’s population – do not have a place in their homes to wash their hands with water and soap. Three quarters of those who lack access to water and soap live in the world’s poorest countries and are amongst the most vulnerable: children and familie
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s living in informal settlements, migrant and refugee camps, or in areas of active conflict. This puts an estimated 1 billion people at immediate risk of COVID-19 simply because they lack basic handwashing facilities.
The Hand Hygiene for All initiative aims to move the world towards this goal: supporting the most vulnerable communities with the means to protect their health and environment. It brings together international partners, national governments, public and private sectors, and civil society to ensure affordable products and services are available, especially in disadvantaged areas, and to enable a culture of hygiene.
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International Journal for Quality in Health Care, 2018, 30(9), 724–730
Promoting hand hygiene in a neonatal intensive care unit.
Fact sheet
Good hygiene is critical to ensure that healthcare staff provide quality care, reduce the spread of infections, and protect the health of communities. This fact sheet explores the healthcare-related risks of poor
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hygiene and the critical elements of hand hygiene needed to improve quality of care and reduce negative outcomes of poor compliance (e.g., healthcare-associated infections and antimicrobial resistance) in healthcare facilities, and provides recommendations and additional readings for improving hygiene in health settings and achieving a safe, clean healthcare environment.
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This document provides a summary of the recommendations for hand hygiene best practices to be performed by health workers providing care and/or support to patients with filovirus infection (Ebol
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a and Marburg viruses).
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A guide to help you create an Action Plan specific for your health-care facility