“Hand hygiene, when done at the right times and in the right way, saves millions of lives every year.” And it’s also “a smart investment that delivers an outstanding return on every dollar invested.” This is the appeal of the World Health Organization which, in view of the World Hand Hygiene Day on 5 May, highlights how, in this field, “progress is slow overall”.
The current one, underlines the WHO, “is a critical moment in which countries around the world must take advantage of the lessons of the Covid pandemic to accelerate the implementation of the lessons and fill the gaps in infection prevention and control”. The theme of the campaign for World Hand Hygiene Day 2023, which will be spread on social media with the hashtag #handhygiene #cleanhands is: “we give hand hygiene top priority”.
Hand hygiene, recalls the Istituto Superiore di Sanità is a simple, fast and low-cost procedure, which however has a high importance in the health sector, because it allows to avoid the transmission of resistant bacteria. For this reason, the “Save Lives: Sanitize Your Hands” campaign aims to improve this procedure in health care settings around the world. The ISS, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, participates in the campaign with the dissemination of information materials, a training course for health professionals and, moreover, will make available, together with the WHO, a self-assessment tool to evaluate the objectives achieved and those on which to improve.
As emphasized by health institutions especially at the beginning of the Covid emergency, hands can be a real receptacle for germs. Keeping them clean is also essential outside the hospital, i.e. in daily life, to reduce the risk of infections caused by various types of pathogens.
Many initiatives have been organized for World Hand Hygiene Day. On the 5th, the experts from the Gemelli Hospital and the Catholic University will take stock of the results of a survey on the Italian population in a conference. In Cuneo, the students of the Degree Course in Nursing will create a flash mob with the simulation of correct gestures for washing.
The University Hospital of Ferrara promotes specific activities and projects to promote good practices among employees.
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