As many as 20 hospitals in the Central region on May 3 signed pledges to join the campaign “Save Lives: Clean Your Hands” in response to the World Health Organisation (WHO)’s annual drive to reduce bacterial contamination caused by poor hand hygiene.

The signing ceremony was co-organised by the Vietnamese Nurses Association, the Society of Infection Control in the Central region, and Hue Central Hospital.

At the event, representatives from the hospitals received publications on patient safety and the benefits of cleaning your hands. They also learnt about bacterial contamination control and hands washing in hospitals, as well as hand hygiene evaluation tools from the WHO.

They also exchanged ways to raise public awareness of the important role hand hygiene plays in preventing diseases.

The “Save Lives: Clean Your Hands” campaign was initiated by WHO in 2009 to improve healthcare workers’ hygiene, thus supporting the prevention of life threatening healthcare-associated infections to ensure patient safety and improve the practice in hospitals.

Up to now, the initiative has drawn the participation of 15,596 hospitals worldwide, including 66 from Vietnam.

Hue Central Hospital was among the first hospitals in Vietnam to join the campaign, and since 2011 has been listed as one of the best three hospitals in the Asia Pacific region for enhancing healthcare workers’ hand hygiene.-VNA