WHO hails Saudi Clean Hand initiative

The World Health Organization WHO praised the Saudi record in implementing the hand hygiene program, noting it as one of the most successful examples in the world. This came through a report published by the organization on its official website on the International World Hand Hygiene Day, which is held on the fifth of May each year under the banner: (Unite for safety…clean your hands).

Saudi Arabia has a lengthy experience in the field of generalizing preventive measures related to hand hygiene. In 2009, after the WHO launched the campaign (Save Lives: Clean Your Hands), Saudi Health launched a national program for hand hygiene and disinfection, since then; Major improvements have been made in hand hygiene and infection prevention and control.

In 2019, the Saudi Council of Ministers recognized that hand disinfection is the most important intervention to reduce healthcare-related injuries, and raised it to the highest possible level of national legislation. All health sectors were directed to launch and intensify educational programs for hand disinfection in health care facilities. A wide network of hand hygiene coordinators were also comprehensively trained so that each health care facility was assigned a hand hygiene coordinator, whether it was a hospital, primary health, dental, or dialysis center. The number of coordinators reached in the first quarter of this year to 2,100 accredited coordinators.