Sepsis prevention is focus of World Hand Hygiene Day

On May 5, World Hand Hygiene Day, the focus is on the prevention of sepsis in health care.

Health care-associated infections (those acquired during health care delivery) are a risk factor for developing sepsis. Sepsis is estimated to affect more than 30 million patients every year worldwide, but it can be prevented with effective hand hygiene.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has implemented the SAVE LIVES: Clean Your Hands campaign to progress the importance of hand hygiene in health care and to bring people together in support of hand hygiene improvement. The WHO calls on health facilities to prevent health care-associated sepsis through proper hand hygiene and infection prevention and control (IPC) action.

Download the Infographic “How to prevent sepsis – the role you can play in health care and communities” as well as posters and other promotional materials. To learn more about sepsis, click here.