Donini: “Not only a symbolic commitment: hand hygiene saves millions of human lives every year”
‘Accelerate action together. Save lives – Clean your Hands’ is the slogan of the campaign. In 2023, over 13,000 healthcare workers enrolled in infection risk prevention courses in Emilia-Romagna, where MAppER, a computerized system for monitoring compliance with hand hygiene, is also active
May 3, 2023 – It may seem obvious and trivial, but the pandemic has also shown that it is not.
Washing your hands, and doing it correctly, is so important that every year, since 2009, on the initiative of theWorld Health Organization is celebrated on May 5 is World Hand Hygiene Dayto which the Emilia Romagna region. The slogan that was chosen, ‘Accelerate action together. Save lives – Clean your Hands’, emphasizes that Together action can be accelerated to prevent infections and antimicrobial resistance in healthcare, and a culture of safety can be built in which improving hand hygiene is a top priority.
The Region has been active for years to raise awareness among citizens and health professionals on the importance of this practice: even the Regional Prevention Plan 2021-2025, in line with the national one, encourage and support correct hand hygiene in all regional healthcare contexts; in 2023 they are over 13,000 health professionals enrolled in the regional training series ‘FAD – Governance of infectious risk related to healthcare activities’, consisting of 4 courses on the prevention of infectious risk; moreover, in Emilia-Romagna there is a specification web platform, MAppER, which makes it possible to collect and analyze data in the field and to plan the consequent improvement actions: accessible to all authorized health professionals, via browser, from any device connected to the Internet, the web application, to date, has been adopted by 8 Ausl, 2 University Hospitals and 3 regional Irccs. And again, action has also been taken in the non-health sector, with specifics communication campaigns addressed to citizens.
“As scientific studies show, proper and frequent hand hygiene is the most effective action to prevent infectionsstop its spread and at the same time protect patients, health personnel and citizens – says the regional councilor for health policies, Raffaele Donini-. The World Health Organization itself highlights how hand hygiene saves millions of lives every year, if it is performed at the right times throughout health care. Awareness-raising days like this are therefore welcome, to increase the attention of citizens and the commitment of professionals and institutions on the prevention and control of healthcare-related infections”.
For more information, you can consult the Region’s website at the link Hand hygienewhile the details of the 2023 world campaign are available at the link https://www.who.int/campaigns/world-hand-hygiene-day/2023.
poster of the day (525.86 KB)