World Hand Hygiene Day

• Improve healthcare provider adherence to CDC hand hygiene recommendations
• Address the myths and misperceptions about hand hygiene
• Empower patients to play a role in their care by asking or reminding healthcare providers to clean their hands

Each year the World Health Organization (WHO) SAVE LIVES: Clean Your Hands 5 May campaign aims to maintain a global profile on the importance of hand hygiene in health care and to bring people together in support of hand hygiene improvement worldwide. Therefore, in response to this campaign, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) is extending an invitation across the Region of the Americas, especially to whom the campaign is particularly addressed this year: to civil society organizations as well as other partners, such as the health and care workers, Infection Prevention and Control Teams, and Policymakers.

The invitation is to engage in the campaign and keep in mind the theme for World Hand Hygiene Day 2023: “Together, we can accelerate action to prevent infections and antimicrobial resistance in health care and build a culture of safety and quality in which hand hygiene improvement is given high priority.”

Hand hygiene saves millions of lives every year when performed at the right time and in the right way during health care delivery, while improving hand hygiene in health care settings saves approximately US$ 16.5 in health care expenditure for every US dollar invested.