World Hand Hygiene Day 2018

“It’s in your hands – prevent sepsis in health care” 3 May 2018, Cairo – World Hand Hygiene Day, marked globally on 5 May, highlights the importance of hand hygiene in health care. The slogan of this year’s campaign is “It’s in your hands – prevent sepsis in health care”, illustrating the important relationship between good infection prevention and control practices, such as washing your hands, and preventing sepsis. The World Health Organization (WHO) calls on health facilities to prevent health care-associated sepsis through hand hygiene and action on infection prevention and control. Sepsis is a life-threatening condition that arises when the body’s response to infection causes injury to its own tissues and organs. If not recognized early and managed promptly, it can lead to septic shock, multiple organ failure and death. It is a serious complication of infection, particularly in low- and middle-income countries where it represents a major cause of maternal and neonatal morbidity and mortality.  Sepsis is estimated to affect more than 30 million patients every year worldwide and global rates of sepsis are thought to be growing rapidly. At the Seventieth World Health Assembly, Member States adopted a resolution on improving the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of sepsis. According to the resolution, WHO will assist Member States by developing guidance for the prevention and management of sepsis, and supporting countries to establish the nece...
Source: WHO EMRO News - Category: Middle East Health Source Type: news