The WHO says hand hygiene is one of the most effective, affordable and universal tools we have to prevent the transmission of infections.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there are five key moments for hand hygiene:
- Before touching a patient
- Before a clean/aseptic procedure
- After body fluid exposure risk
- After touching a patient
- After touching patient surroundings
The WHO’s “5 moments for hand hygiene” were highlighted during World Hand Hygiene Day, celebrated annually on May 5 and now in its 17th year. WHHD aims to promote optimal hand hygiene practices (using the appropriate technique and according to the WHO 5 Moments) and the times for appropriate glove use within the health care workflow.
“Hand hygiene is one of the most effective, affordable and universal tools we have to prevent the transmission of infections and provide high-quality, clean and safe medical care,” the WHO noted. “While medical gloves serve a vital role in preventing transmission of infection, for example when there is risk of exposure to blood and body fluids, they are not a substitute for cleaning hands at the right time.”
The WHO urged national policymakers and the health community to take the following actions to improve rational use of gloves and hand hygiene in healthcare settings:
- Establish hand hygiene compliance as a national health system performance indicator by 2026 in line with the Global action plan and monitoring framework on infection prevention and control (IPC), 2024-2030;
- Align national efforts on hand hygiene with the WHO guidelines on hand hygiene in health care;
- Train health workers on appropriate use of gloves and the WHO guidance called the
5 moments for hand hygiene; - Focus on reducing unnecessary glove use to minimize health care waste; provide the necessary resources to enable hand hygiene to be practiced at the point of care; and
- Prevent glove misuse by keeping enough good-quality gloves accessible.
“Regardless of whether gloves are worn, hand hygiene at the right times and in the right way is still one of the most important measures to protect patients and health workers in healthcare,” the WHO noted on its website. By 2026, hand hygiene compliance monitoring and feedback should be established as a key national indicator, at the very least in all reference hospitals. Currently 68% of countries report they are doing this.
Appropriate glove use and hand hygiene can help minimize this waste. Using gloves when not indicated wastes resources and does not necessarily reduce transmission of germs. An average university hospital generates 1,634 tons of health care waste each year and this number is increasing 2-3% per year (especially since COVID-19); wealthier countries generate more waste, WHO noted.
IPC interventions such as hand hygiene, and ensuring access to high-quality water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services can reduce the risk of health care-associated infections (HAIs) by up to 70% and have a high economic return on investment.