Nigerian has joined millions of people around the world to mark Global Hand Hygiene Day.
The purpose of the day is to mobilise citizens around the world on the SAVE LIVES: Clean Your Hands campaign which was launched in 2009.
The campaign aims to maintain the promotion, visibility and sustainability of hand hygiene in health care settings around the world.
SAVE LIVES: Clean Your Hands campaign is led by global advocacy efforts, the campaign now supports a social movement that helps to keep patients and health workers safe.
Since 2019, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) through the National Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) programme has led the country’s efforts to make hand
hygiene day activities a major national event in order to raise the consciousness of Nigerians on these efforts, and their role in saving lives.
This year, the global Hand Hygiene Day theme is “Achieving hand hygiene at the point of care,” and the slogan is “Seconds save lives – clean your hands.”
The Director General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Chikwe Ihekweazu, said that the NCDC recognises that the safety of health workers has to be at the forefront of Nigeria’s response strategy to prevent outbreaks of infectious diseases.
He said that the day was commemorated at a time the world is still battling the COVID-19 pandemic which has already claimed over 3 million lives.
The Medical Director of the Federal Medical Centre (FMC) Jabi, where an event to mark the World Hand Hygiene Day was held, Dr. Sa’ad Ahmed said that hand washing could help reduce the spread of disease.
“As simple as hand washing is , it actually save a lot of life. There is a circle of infection and and we need to break that circle through hand washing. Hand washing can save us a lot.” Dr Sa’ad said.
He also said that the at the point of care, most Health workers infect patients or get infected by patients, hence the need to promote hand hygiene.
In her welcome address, the Chairperson Infection Prevention and Control Committee (IPCC), Dr Nkoli Uwazurike, noted that the the day is observed to make people aware of the importance of hand hygiene.
She said that hand hygiene could reduce major public health problem in Nigeria and has a significant impact on morbidity, mortality and quality of life.
In a message to mark the day, the World Health Organisation (WHO) calls on health care workers and facilities to achieve effective hand hygiene action at the point of care.
“The point of care refers to the place where three elements come together: the patient, the health care worker, and care or treatment involving contact with the patient or their surroundings,” it said.
The WHO slogan this year is ‘CLEAN HANDS SAVE LIVES’
The COVID-19 pandemic has further exposed the risk of care-associated infections in low and middle income countries, particularly in patients admitted to intensive care units and in neonates.
The Nigeria sub-theme for Nigeria this year is “One Nation, One Plan: Turn Nigeria Orange.”
This recognises the efforts that have been made since the launch of the ‘Orange Network’ in 2019.
The Orange Network is a network of dedicated tertiary health facilities in Nigeria supported by NCDC, through the ‘Orange Project’ to become centers of excellence in infection prevention and control.
In line with activities to mark the 2021 World Hand Hygiene Day.
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