5 May 2013: Marking World Hygiene Day, the World Health Organization (WHO) has launched a call to action to improve patient contribution to hand hygiene improvement among health workers to prevent the spread of infectious disease.

Launched by WHO’s Patient Safety Programme, the call focuses on hand hygiene monitoring and feedback, and patient participation. It states that monitoring and feedback using a range of indicators reflecting hygiene infrastructure, practices and awareness, is a key component of successful hygiene campaigns. The promotion of patient participation aims to strengthen patients’ role in fostering hand hygiene best practices by both patients and health-care workers in health-care settings.

The WHO Patient Safety Programme was launched in 2004 to coordinate, disseminate and accelerate improvements in patient safety worldwide, and to improve collaboration between WHO and its members States. As of May 2013, over 15700 health facilities from 168 countries had joined the Save Lives: Clean Your Hands campaign, which promotes the implementation of the WHO guidelines on Hand Hygiene in Health Care. [WHO Press Release] [UN Press Release] [WHO Patient Safety Website] [Save Lives: Clean Your Hands Newsletter]