A World Health Organisation (WHO) report indicates that approximately 70 per cent of healthcare workers do not routinely practice hand hygiene.
It also revealed that as little as 50 per cent of surgical teams comply with hand hygiene best practice throughout a surgical patient’s hospital stay.
Dr Sally Ann Ohene, a representative of the WHO Country Office, who made this known at the launch of the 2025 Global Hand Hygiene Day in Accra on Tuesday, said health care-associated infections occurred worldwide, affecting hundreds of millions of patients annually.
She said the rate of transmission in the healthcare setting had led to an increase in avoidable infections, which could lead to death if not treated.
Dr Ohene said infections affecting surgical sites were the most frequent type of infection in low- and middle-income countries, with a pooled incidence of 11.8 per cent compared to 1.2 – 5.2 per cent in developed countries.
“It is, thus, imperative that we continue to ensure proper hand hygiene practices to reduce the spread of germs and other health-associated infections,” she stated.
She said health care workers needed to improve the prevention of infections in all health care settings throughout the patient’s care journey by understanding and applying the WHO’s “My 5 Moments for Hand Hygiene” alongside the appropriate use of gloves.
“My 5 Moments for Hand Hygiene” encourages health care workers to wash their hands before touching a patient, before clean or aseptic procedure, after body fluid exposure risk, after touching a patient and after touching a patient’s surroundings adding that these were critical life-saving actions for every day of the year.
Dr Ohene urged facility managers to promote those best practices and save resources through the provision of standard operating procedures and practical training programmes for their health staff.
The launch of the global Hand Hygiene Day was on the theme: “It May be Gloves, It is Always Hand Hygiene.”
The World Hand Hygiene Day, celebrated on May 5 each year, serves as a global reminder of the critical role that hand hygiene plays to prevent infections and promote public health.
This is a reminder that even with gloves on, hand hygiene remains the first and last line of defence against Healthcare-Associated Infections (HAIs), and clean hands remain a cornerstone of effective Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) practices in all health settings.
Dr Serwah Amoah, Member of the National Infection Prevention and Control Committee, in a presentation, said although hand hygiene was a simple procedure, numerous studies had shown low levels of compliance among health staff.
She called for an urgent need for the provision of hand hygiene facilities for institutions to ensure adherence to the guidelines and standards.
“We need to promote optimal hand hygiene practices using the appropriate technique and times for appropriate glove use, promote inclusion of hand hygiene within the National IPC strategy, and raise awareness on the environmental and climate impact of glove waste generation and management,” Dr Amoah added.
Mr Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, the Minister of Health, officially launched the Global Hand Hygiene Day, saying this served as a renewed call to embed robust hygiene practices not only in healthcare delivery but across broader communities.
He said as part of the Government initiatives, by 2026, all regional and teaching hospitals in Ghana would routinely monitor hand hygiene compliance and provide regular feedback as an integral part of their quality improvement framework.
The Ministry was committed to ensuring sustainable hand hygiene infrastructure across all public health facilities, promoting waste management systems, strengthening supervision, monitoring, and integration of IPC indicators, Mr Akandoh said.
“There will also be support for local production of affordable hygiene products, encouraging health training institutions to prioritise hygiene in their pre-service curricula, while enhancing collaboration to increase public awareness and foster accountability,” he said.
The Minister called for extending hygiene education beyond hospitals to homes, schools, and communities to “nurture a lasting culture of hygiene,” and encouraged patients to ask healthcare providers whether they have washed their hands.
“If we are to build a resilient, equitable, and people-centered health system, hygiene must serve as its unshakeable foundation. The health, safety, and dignity of every Ghanaian depend upon the actions we take or fail to take on hygiene,” he added.
He urged development partners to sustain and, where possible, expand their commitment to advancing towards achieving Universal Health Coverage by 2030.
—GNA
