Health authority advises on hand hygiene
Chemnitz counselling service on the global day of action Date: Monday, 5 May, 9 to 11:30 a.m. at Am Rathaus 8
The World Health Organisation's (WHO) international campaign on hand hygiene draws attention to the importance of proper hand hygiene in everyday life and in medical care. To this end, the WHO has launched the "Clean Care is Safer Care" campaign with the day of action on 5 May. The aim is to increase patient safety, as 80 per cent of pathogens are transmitted via the hands. Regular hand washing is therefore one of the key precautions for preventing infectious diseases - which are transmitted by droplet or contact infections.Careful hand hygiene is therefore the most important measure to effectively prevent hospital infections and the spread of resistant bacteria.
The Chemnitz Health Department is joining this campaign and will be providing advice on World Hand Hygiene Day on Monday, 5 May: staff from the General Infection Protection Department will be available for personal advice from 9 to 11:30 a.m. at the Health Department, Am Rathaus 8, Room 434. Free leaflets and materials to take away will also be provided.
While consistent hand disinfection is essential in medical facilities, washing hands is usually sufficient in everyday life to remove potentially pathogenic germs. Those who wash their hands thoroughly and regularly protect themselves and others from infectious diseases. This is a simple and basic hygiene rule that is unfortunately often given little attention. "To achieve reliable protection against infection," says medical officer Dr Harald Uerlings, "hands should be washed for about 30 seconds with sufficient soap. Proper hand drying is also often underestimated, as wet hands transmit up to 1000 times more germs than dry hands. It is therefore important to dry your hands completely after washing, preferably with an absorbent paper towel. Shared cloth towels should not be used due to the high risk of germ transmission."
Contact: The contact person at the public health department is Anett Rast, call 0371 488-5390.