World Hand Hygiene Day on 5 May

Sempach, Switzerland. B. Braun as member of the Private Organizations for Patient Safety (POPS) supports the WHO global patient safety campaign “SAVE LIVES: Clean Your Hands”

The World Health Organization (WHO) focus remains on reducing healthcare-associated infections  highlighting the role of hand hygiene in combating antimicrobial resistance (AMR) .

”It is crucial for every healthcare facility to support the campaign of the WHO”, says Dr. Thomas-Joerg Hennig from the Centre of Excellence Infection Control at B. Braun, “because improving hand hygiene compliance has a clinical proven impact on reducing healthcare costs and healthcare-associated infections.  Millions of lives can be saved by a simple measure using an alcohol based handrub according to the 5 moments for hand hygiene.”

Health care facilities should register at http://www.who.int/gpsc/5may/register/en to demonstrate their commitment and celebrate May 5th, the World Hand Hygiene Day to learn more about antimicrobial resistance and hand hygiene as well as taking part in the 2014 surveys and other proposed activities at www.who.int/gpsc/5may/en

Since many years B. Braun and the Aesculap Academy support hand hygiene campaigns by organizing lectures, symposia, hand hygiene awareness days in hospitals and initiated in 2009 the Hand Hygiene Excellence Award (see https://www.hhea.info/en.html ) to identify and honour the hospitals with the best hand hygiene programs in the regions Asia Pacific, Europe and for the first time this year in Latin America.

Read the exciting story of the man behind the Global Hand Hygiene Campaign

Every year hospital-related infections kill 16 million patients. The Swiss doctor Prof. Didier Pittet is reducing these numbers by half. His crusade is recounted in a book, which marks the occasion of World Hand Hygiene Day on 5 May 2014.

Since 2005, in conjunction with the World Health Organization (WHO), he has been leading a global campaign in which 170 out of 194 UN member states now take part.

Didier Pittet was made Commander of the British Empire (CBE) by Queen Elizabeth II in 2007.

This book, translated into seven languages (French, English, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Japanese, and Chinese), with a foreword by the WHO’s Director-General, tells of an ongoing worldwide struggle against engrained habits, prejudices, and ignorance. It’s a lesson of courage, hope, and peace.

The author Thierry Crouzet has donated his rights to the Clean Hands Save Lives Fund, hosted by the Fondation Philanthropia.

With every sold copy of the book, a health care worker in low- and middle-income countries is provided with a bottle of alcohol-based handrub.