May 5 is World Hand Hygiene Day

World Hand Hygiene Day: the importance of handwashing

Handwashing is a simple and effective way to protect you and others from infections. Today, 5th of May, is World Hand Hygiene Day with the theme "Save Lives: Clean Your Hands".

Infection prevention and control (IPC), including hand hygiene, has a significant role on quality of care and patient safety across all levels of the health system. Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) can harm patients, visitors, and health workers, placing a significant burden on health systems. Additionally, many HAIs are caused by multidrug-resistant organisms. It is estimated that every year, 136 million cases of healthcare-associated antibiotic-resistant infections occur worldwide.¹ Handwashing as part of effective IPC, can help prevent HAIs from spreading and thus also plays a part in preventing antimicrobial resistance (AMR).

Testing effectiveness of handwashing using Hygicult TPC

Washing, and also drying your hands thoroughly, is a small act that can have a big impact on health and safety. We conducted a simple experiment to show how much difference just 20 seconds of handwashing can make. We used Hygicult TPC to sample hands before washing, before drying, and after drying them. The results are clear: handwashing, followed by thorough drying, significantly reduces the number of bacteria on your hands. Watch the experiment video below and visit Hygicult web page to learn more about Hygicult products.

Reference

1. World Health Organization (WHO). Global report on infection prevention and control 2024: executive summary. Available at: https://iris.who.int/bitstream/handle/10665/379863/B09195-eng.pdf?sequence=1
   Accessed: 2 May 2025.