Patient participation Vital for hand hygiene in health care

On the occasion of celebrating the Hand Hygiene Day on May 5, World Health Organization (WHO) Friday encouraged patient participation for hand hygiene in health care. Dr Benedetta Allegranzi, team lead in the WHO Patient Safety program, told a press conference that every year, hundreds of millions of patients around the world are affected by health care-associated infections, with at least 7 of every 100 hospitalized patients in developed countries and 10 of those in developing countries getting infected, which lead to severe physical and psychological suffering and sometimes death of patients, and financial losses for health systems. Allegranzi pointed out that more than half of such infections could be prevented by caregivers properly cleaning their hands. WHO recommended caregivers to use alcohol-based hand rubs or washing hands with soap and water if visibly dirty at five key moments: before touching a patient; before clean and aseptic procedures; after contact with body fluids; after touching a patient and after touching patient surroundings. "This year WHO's special focus is on getting patients involved by encouraging health workers caring for them to practice good hand hygiene," said Allegranzi, who emphasized the participation of patients and their families was a useful strategy for improving hand hygiene and creating a positive patient safety climate. The health official suggested possible ways for patients and their family members to participate in hand hygiene: asking for information about any existing initiatives that involve patients at the health facility or asking health workers who are about to touch them to clean their hands, and thanking them when they do. Hand Hygiene Day, celebrated on every May 5, was first launched by WHO in 2009 to focus on the importance of improving hand hygiene in health care under a WHO global annual campaign: SAVE LIVES: Clean Your Hands. The campaign which celebrates its fifth anniversary in 2013 is part of global effort to improve hand hygiene in health care and support health-care workers. According to WHO, more than 15,700 health facilities with over 9 million health workers worldwide have registered their commitment to good hand hygiene as part of the campaign.