Every year on the 5th May, WHO with the collaboration of states and health-care facilities all around the world, runs an annual campaign for promoting hand hygiene.

The slogan is “Save Lives: Clean your Hands” .

Currently , there are 21,372 health-care facilities registered in 180 countries. The process of implementing hand hygiene programs using multi- modal strategies in health-care facilities should be a first priority process and the entry point for Patient Safety in Africa.

HH gives an opportunity to raise awareness on another topic for which WHO is currently attaching critical importance- antimicrobial resistance and antimicrobial stewardship and for all these reasons, ICAN is calling for action by all African countries to “make Africa more orange and to save more lives”.

Turn Africa Orange Initiative rolled out 4-day HH Training Course :

• Training for ICAN affiliated organizations ( over 780 HCWs trained in HH),
• Collaborated with POPS – BBraun, SureWash (Dublin), WCC.
• Seconded Training Coordinator to WCC for training
• BBraun Plant to appreciate HH decontamination products and the role of quality checks in manufacturing ABHR
• Introduced a HH session in every ICAN based training
• Hospital/ Unit based specific HH Program- Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital (CHBAH)
• #Mum’s for HH Initiative – (CHBAH)
• Collaborated with Glasgow Caledonian University and Cameroon Baptist Convention Health Services – ABHR at point of care Project
• HH Champion Recognition Badges

Status of HCFs that have registered for Save Lives: Clean Your Hands Campaign

ICAN Commitment – 5 Elements of HEH

• System changed- Access to necessary products and supplies.
• Training and education of EVS staff, manager, and raising awareness for other healthcare staff and administration.
• Monitoring and feedback of performance on how is clean and optimizing feedback is for performance.
• Workplace reminders-safety poster, events, etc
• Institutional safety climate-Career advancement, ability to communicate with nursing staff and up the hierarchy.

In addition,

• Acknowledge the role the healthcare environment plays in the transmission of infections
• Has incorporated the Clean Hands to Clean Hospital model in the Best practices for environmental cleaning module.
• Applies the WHO MMIS to create awareness on the Clean Hospitals model – Training and Education + Institutional Safety Climate components