GREAT BAY, Sint Maarten (DCOMM) – Today, Tuesday, May 5 is World Hand Hygiene Day. The 2026 global campaign is 18 years of SAVE LIVES: Clean Your Hands.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), everyone has the right to expect clean care, whether that care is administered in a field hospital, a care home or a state-of-the art operating theatre.
A large proportion of avoidable infections acquired during health care delivery could still be prevented with hand hygiene and infection prevention and control (IPC) action at the right times.
This provides a high return on investment for health systems and countries. In this 18th year of the WHO world hand hygiene day, we call on those providing and supporting health care to refresh their action on hand hygiene and IPC to ensure patient and health worker safety.
The Collective Prevention Services (CPS), a department of the Ministry of Public Health, Social Development and Labour, says clean care is safer care; protects the most vulnerable, saves lives and helps combat bacteria resistance, and it all starts with clean hands for infection prevention and control.
CPS calls on all health and care related institutions to review and reflect on their protocols currently in place for infection prevention and control, and to adjust where necessary, if need be, to be in line with WHO standards and requirements.
The WHO says that: Health care-associated infections (HAIs) affect health systems every day and are a daily threat to patients in every health care setting, including during public health emergencies.
They contribute to the antimicrobial resistance (AMR) burden, cause immense suffering to patients, families and health workers, premature deaths and disability, higher health care costs and hamper efforts to achieve high-quality care for all.
Hand hygiene and IPC best practices are also affected by the built environment including lack of water, sanitation, waste management and hygiene (WASH), which also impact equity and dignity among both those providing and receiving care.
In 2026 IPC action including hand hygiene, is critical now more than ever.
