Qatar Celebrating World Hand Hygiene Day!

Hand hygiene is very important. We all know that washing our hands is the simplest way to keep germs away. We have been taught that since we were younger, and have established it as a rule whenever we do anything.

When touching anything, our hands are our main focal point. They are the most sensitive spot of our biggest organ, the skin. So how do we keep them clean in the best possible way?

The World Health Organization (WHO) has launched a global call to action to encourage hand hygiene. “Save Lives: Clean Your Hands” is the annual campaign that stretches across the world, focusing on multiple aspects of optimal hygiene and ways to achieve it.

“Fight antibiotic resistance – it’s in your hands” is the 2017 theme for the world-wide campaign, and aims to use hand hygiene to prevent the spread of diseases such as Ebola. The WHO focused on 3^rd world countries to ensure they have a safe, and continuous supply of clean water, and alcohol-based hand rub, which was recently declared as an essential medicine by the WHO.

Back in Qatar, multiple medical and health organizations celebrated the world day on the** 5^th May** and encouraged all attendees to practice the best methods to washing their hands.

During this year’s campaign, Hamad Medical Corporation, HMC, staff were encouraged to revisit the five key moments of hand washing, as defined by WHO for healthcare workers. These include: before touching a patient, before cleaning and aseptic procedures (insertion of devices such as catheters), after contact with bodily fluids, after touching a patient, and after touching a patient’s surroundings.

According to HMC: “All healthcare workers should be aware of and follow these hand washing practices. While the compliance rate at HMC is above international standards, there is always room for improvement. Improving hand hygiene will save lives, unnecessary suffering, and is cost effective. The support of all staff is vital to achieving these goals,” said Dr. Jameela Al Ajmi, Executive Director, Corporate Infection Prevention and Control, Quality and Patient Safety and Senior Consultant in Infectious Diseases, at HMC.

According to the WHO, every year millions of patients globally are adversely affected by healthcare-associated infections. More than half of these infections can be avoided with properly cleaned hands.

Private hospitals and clinics also participated in this world day, including Al Ahli Hospital, who created promotional videos with the help of certain departments. The E.N.T and Orthopedic departments had videos from the doctors, nurses, and staff members promoting hand washing, with catchy music and an interesting mix of images.

Several other clinics and health enthusiasts posted the hashtag #handhygiene on their social media pa