WHO / HAND HYGIENE

On the occasion of World Hand Hygiene Day, the World Health Organization (WHO) urged health care workers to improve patient safety through following proper hand hygiene practices to reduce the number of health care-associated infections. FILE

• Categories: News & Features / News Stories / Unifeed
• Video Length: 00:00:46
• Production Date: 5 May 2016
• Asset Language: English
• Corporate Name: WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION - WHO
• Subject Topical: INFECTIOUS DISEASES; WATER
• MAMS Id: 1618213
• Parent Id: 1618213
• Alternate Title: unifeed160505e

Description

STORY: WHO / HAND HYGIENE
TRT: 00:46
SOURCE: WHO / UNMISS / UNMEER / UNICEF
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE: FILE

Shotlist

FILE - UNMISS - 25 JUNE, 2015, SOUTH SUDAN

1. Close up, hand washing

FILE – UNMEER - 28 JANUARY 2014, SINJE, GRAND CAPE MOUNT, LIBERIA

2. Med shot, doctor putting on rubber gloves

FILE - WHO – 2008, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO

3. Close up, patient being treated for cholera at field hospital

FILE - UNMEER - 15 DECEMBER 2014, FREETOWN, SIERRA LEONE

4. Wide shot, worker wearing PPE spraying another worker’s hands
5. Med shot, health workers in PPEs being sprayed

FILE - UNMEER 22 MARCH 2015, KAMBIA, SIERRA LEONE

6. Pan left, nurses running a water tap at washing station
7. Med shot, chlorine water taps

FILE – UNICEF - OCTOBER 23, 2014, MONROVIA, LIBERIA,

8. Med shot, UNICEF worker explaining sanitation process of toilet at Ebola treatment centre

Storyline

On the occasion of World Hand Hygiene Day, celebrated every year on 5 May, the World Health Organization (WHO) urged health care workers to improve patient safety through following proper hand hygiene practices to reduce the number of health care-associated infections.

The subject of this year’s campaign is surgical site infections, with particular focus on ensuring clean hands from the moment the patient enters the hospital, through surgical preparation and post-operative care, until the patient is discharged.

Health care-associated infections often occur when germs are transferred by health workers’ hands. Surgical site infections are the most frequent type of infection in low-income and middle-income countries, with a pooled incidence of 11.8 percent of surgical procedures. They can be prevented by health workers following standard hand hygiene practices. Adequate hand hygiene in surgical sites can reduce the prevalence of health care-associated infections.

8 million lives can be saved worldwide every year in hospitals alone by halting surgical site infections and other health care-associated infections.