Deb Group has joined forces with the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) ‘SAVE LIVES: Clean Your Hands’ campaign day.

The campaign, scheduled for tomorrow, seeks to drive hand hygiene awareness and engagement amongst healthcare staff in order to sharply reduce the threat of healthcare-associated infections (HCAIs).

Healthcare facilities are being encouraged by the WHO to register for the campaign and receive a wide range of resources, including educational posters and videos, webinars, monitoring and feedback tools and self-assessment frameworks. Using these healthcare establishments will be able to hold events around their premises to reinforce the message on the importance of hand hygiene. 

This year, the campaign is focused primarily on the risks to surgical patients and the environments which they occupy, from surgical wards and operating theatres to surgical services. This includes the promotion of the hashtag, #safesurgicalhands.

In the UK today, the threat of healthcare associated infections is alarming, with approximately 300,000  patients contracting an illness whilst being treated in healthcare premises, according to the National Institute for Healthcare & Excellence.

These patients account for an approximate cost of £1 billion to the NHS and mean that healthcare professionals have less time to focus on new admittances.

Deb has been working closely with the Handz campaign – founded by MP Andrea Jenkyns to raise awareness on hand hygiene – to promote the Deb 3-step hand hygiene protocol that should be followed by healthcare staff: cleanse, sanitise and restore. This revolves around staff members frequently using hand hygiene products at regular intervals dictated by the WHO ‘Five Moments of Hand Hygiene’.  

Paul Jakeway, Marketing Director at Deb Group UK commented: “It is impossible to overstate the importance of the SAVE LIVES: Clean Your Hands campaign. Whilst the 5th May is a one-day event, hand hygiene in healthcare is an issue that must be acknowledged 365 days a year. At Deb, we have long supported the WHO in its efforts to drive hand hygiene compliance in accordance with the ‘WHO Five Moments of Hand Hygiene’ recommendations, and we are delighted to be continuing that support in 2016.”

To find out more about Deb Group and the WHO ‘SAVE LIVES: Clean Your Hands’ visit www.debgroup.com