Why hand hygiene?

With the global COVID-19 pandemic situation worsening every passing day, very few people actually noticed that May 5 was observed as Global Hand Hygiene Day. This was because, hand washing anyway had become a top priority across the globe since COVID-19 had spread to all the continents since the beginning of the year after it first broke out in the Wuhan province of China in December 2019. Hand Hygiene Day, which is organized under the auspices of the World Health Organization (WHO), is intended at mobilizing people around the world to increase adherence to hand hygiene in healthcare facilities, thus protecting healthcare workers and patients from infections. The main goal of the Global Hand Hygiene Day campaign is to recognize that hand-washing is one of the most effective actions you can take to reduce the spread of pathogens and prevent infections, including the COVID-19 virus. Health workers and community members alike can play a role in preventing infections by practising regular and frequent handwashing. While May 5 was Global Hand Hygiene Day, WHO however has said that it is an on-going activity intensified in the current year in view of the COVID-19 oubreak. The WHO website says that as part of the 2020 campaign, WHO and other partner organizations aim to have three specific objectives, these being (i) Making hand hygiene a global priority, (ii) Inspiring hand hygiene and behaviour change, and (iii) Engaging with healthcare workers in their role in clean care and the prevention of infections. The campaign also makes a call to action to policy-makers to provide safe work environments for nurses and improve staffing levels. Additionally, it calls on infection prevention and control leaders to empower nurses and midwives in providing clean care. The campaign also contributes to the United Nations Secretary General's Global Call to Action on WASH in healthcare facilities. Very interestingly, hand hygiene is one of the simplest and low-cost solutions towards health, both individual as well as public. In India, the practice of hand hygiene incidentally has been very old, dating back to the puranic age, with hand-washing remaining inseparable from both daily life as well as from various rituals and religious practices. A close look at different religious rituals of the country will reveal that a person performing any kind of puja has to every now and then wash his hands. In the present times, clean healthcare is among the most urgent challenges identified by the United Nations to be tackled in the next 10 years by the global community. And hand hygiene being central to clean healthcare whether by individuals or by healthcare workers, it is one important element which holds the key to meeting Sustainable Development Goals deadline. 

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