Save lives: Clean your hands

Each year, millions of infections can be prevented through ensuring good hand hygiene, therefore the Public Health Agency (PHA) is reminding everyone of the need to ‘clean your hands’ on the World Health Organization’s (WHO) global hand hygiene day, the 5 May.

This year’s WHO global campaign ‘Save Lives: Clean Your Hands’ highlights the important role of good hand hygiene in combatting infections which are resistant to antibiotics and antivirals. Preventing the spread of multi-resistant germs is a global, national and regional priority to help ensure that everyone is protected from the risk of untreatable infections.

Dr Lourda Geoghegan, Consultant in Health Protection at the PHA, said: “This year we are focussing on the importance of good hand hygiene in protecting our patients, family, friends and ourselves from resistant germs. We have come to Lisburn Health Centre to remind everyone – patients, staff and members of the public – to clean your hands to ensure we continue to deliver and receive safe healthcare.”

Effective hand hygiene takes less than one minute. By following these below steps everyone can ensure they have clean hands:

•           wet hands with warm water;

•           apply enough soap to cover the surface of the hands;

•           rub hands together thoroughly applying the soap to all areas including the backs of the hands and between the fingers;

•           rinse hands with water;

•           dry hands thoroughly;

Anti-bacterial gels and wipes are generally not a substitute for washing hands with soap and warm water as gels and wipes may not be able to remove contamination in the way that running water can. However, they may be useful if hand-washing facilities are not readily available.

Dr Geoghegan continued: “The PHA continues to work with Health and Social Care Trusts, General Practice, and residential and nursing homes to promote excellence in hand hygiene across all health and social care settings. Effective hand washing is one of the most important tools in preventing most illnesses. Clean hands are vital in controlling the spread of healthcare infections, including emerging multi-resistant infections.

“It is the collective responsibility of everyone – healthcare workers and the general public – to be proactive in preventing the spread of infection. The simple act of cleaning your hands is paramount in ensuring clean, safe healthcare. I would urge everyone to follow good hand hygiene practices, whether in a healthcare environment or in the home.”

Ends