Better hand hygiene means safer care.

Editorial The 1st World Health Organization (WHO) Global Patient Safety Challenge, " Clean Care is Safer Care " , was launched in October 2005. Since then, Prof Didier Pittet, the External Programme Lead reported that 131 WHO Member States and autonomous areas have pledged their support. As of May 2013, over 15,700 healthcare facilities with more than 9 million healthcare workers (HCWs), and more than 3.9 million patient-beds in 168 countries have registered their commitment to good hand hygiene as a routine practice. 1 This has been a signifi cant landmark in the history of Infection Prevention and Control as compliance to proper hand hygiene has been a real challenge since Ignaz Philipp Semmelweis fi rst highlighted its effectiveness in reducing healthcare associated infections in 1847. He demonstrated that the incidence of puerperal fever could be signifi cantly reduced by the use of hand disinfection (chlorinated lime) in obstetrical clinics at the Vienna General Hospital. 2 Unfortunately, he failed to convince his fellow colleagues and died in an asylum in 1865. The hand hygiene campaign is timely in this era of emerging multidrug resistant organisms where the Gram-negative bacilli, viz. the carbapenem resistant Enterobacteriaceae have taken over the Gram-positive bacteria as the current organism to be feared. 3 Most healthcare organisations' hand hygiene policies have the WHO 5 Moments as the key practices to be embraced by all healthcare workers—before touching a patient; before cleaning and antiseptic procedures (inserting devices such as catheters); after contact with body fl uids; after touching a patient; and after touching patient's surroundings. Since 2009, WHO declared 5 May as World Hand Hygiene Day to be celebrated worldwide to further champion the practice of hand hygiene. This year, WHO's call to action is 2-fold: 6 1. To continue to focus on hand hygiene monitoring and feedback. 2. To identify the best ways to gather patient participation in hand hygiene promotion and improvement, according to the local culture and facility's current hand hygiene strategy. The annual Hand Hygiene Day is a great boost to the Infection Control programmes worldwide. Many Infection Control professionals fi nd encouragement in joining hands with its peers in promoting the practice of hand hygiene. The WHO website generously publishes activities held in various countries, and this platform of sharing best practices further fueled encouragement, interest and enthusiasm to do even more. These activities include innovative means of spreading the hand hygiene …