Dear HIFA colleagues,
World Hand Hygiene day is coming up on Tuesday 5 May and the theme for this year is Action saves lives.
Read all about it on the WHO website: https://www.who.int/campaigns/world-hand-hygiene-day/2026
I watched a webinar that was held by WHO this week: Hand hygiene action saves lives! Are you ready to plan and act? Key speakers included HIFA members Julie Storr and Claire Kilpatrick.
You can see the recording here: https://www.who.int/news-room/events/detail/2026/04/13/default-calendar/...
I invite HIFA members to take part in World Hand Hygiene day. The WHO website includes support, guidance, and campaign materials.
It is clear that clean hands save lives and are a simple and cost-effective way to do this, but so often hand hygiene is still ignored, whether by the general public and/or health workers.
In the webinar, it was noted that behaviour change for hand hygiene is complex, and this itself might be a barrier to action. What are the simplest and easiest things to inform people on why hand hygiene is so important? Indeed, how many people have a basic understanding of the role of unwashed hands in transmitting disease? Knowledge is not always, or even usually, sufficient to promote behaviour change, but it is a vital driver and is arguably a prerequisite.
I invite your comments.
HIFA profile: Neil Pakenham-Walsh is coordinator of HIFA (Healthcare Information For All), a global health community that brings all stakeholders together around the shared goal of universal access to reliable healthcare information. HIFA has 20,000 members in 180 countries, interacting in four languages and representing all parts of the global evidence ecosystem. HIFA is administered by Global Healthcare Information Network, a UK-based nonprofit in official relations with the World Health Organization. Email: neil@hifa.org