October 15 is Global Handwashing Day, a global advocacy day dedicated to increasing awareness and understanding about the importance of handwashing. The SAVE LIVES: Clean Your Hands global campaign, launched in 2009 and celebrated annually on 5 May (World Hand Hygiene Day) aims to maintain global promotion, visibility and sustainability of hand hygiene in health care and to ‘bring people together’ in support of hand hygiene improvement around the world. WHO calls on health care workers and facilities to achieve effective hand hygiene action at the point of care. The point of care refers to the place where three elements come together: the patient, the health care worker, and care or treatment involving contact with the patient or their surroundings. To be effective and prevent transmission of infectious microorganisms during health care delivery, hand hygiene should be performed when it is needed (at 5 specific moments) and in the most effective way (by using the right technique with readily available products) at the point of care. This can be achieved by using the WHO multimodal hand hygiene improvement strategy.

FORUM: “Why are clean hands still important?” Global Handwashing Day 2024. As we move past the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the importance of clean hands remains crucial. Handwashing with soap is one of the most effective ways to prevent the spread of infectious diseases, including respiratory infections and diarrheal diseases. Whether it’s in hospitals, schools, or in everyday interactions, practicing handwashing with soap still contributes to better health outcomes and a safer world for everyone. Recent years have seen a rise in hand hygiene commitment and action. While great strides have been made, the world must triple its current efforts to achieve global hand hygiene targets. Everyone has a role to play to ensure clean hands are within reach. 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. This community forum serves as a conversational space that curates, collects, and maintains information on Global Handwashing efforts. Follow the conversation with the hashtags: #HandHygiene, #Cleanhandsarewithinreach, #GlobalHandwashingDay..

EVENTS: On October 15th; The World Health Organization (WHO), the Pan-american Health Organization (PAHO), the WHO African Regional Office, the WHO Europe, the WHO EMRO, the WHO SEARO, the WHO WPRO and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) held a webinar to mark the Global Handwashing Day 2024 to Unite, talk and work together on hand hygiene for high quality safer care everywhere. The objectives of the virtual event are to help participants 1. to Strengthen and empower communities of actors in health care to accelerate action to improve hand hygiene and infection prevention and control at point of care. and 2. to Foster collaboration and working together of people and organizations towards the common goal of minimizing the risk of infections and the development of antimicrobial resistance in health care.

On Tuesday, October 15th, from 1:30 – 3:00PM EDT, the Global Handwashing Partnership will be hosting a spotlight event titled, “Spotlighting Hand Hygiene: Elevating the little H on Global Handwashing Day and Beyond.” at this year’s UNC Water and Health Conference. The session can be attended in-person (if you are planning to attend the conference) or online. Please register for virtual participation. A recording will also be soon available.

PUBLICATIONS: The Handwashing Handbook is an all-in-one resource for handwashing programming. The handbook aims to equip handwashing champions in government, civil society, private sector, and nongovernmental organizations with the resources to strengthen local systems and implement successful programs to change handwashing behavior in a variety of contexts. Download the Handwashing handbook!