International Infection Prevention Experts Discuss Hand Hygiene

Hand hygiene compliance is a key quality measure for infection prevention and control programs, patient safety, and quality of health services worldwide. It is one of the most simple and effective measures to reduce healthcare associated infections (HAIs). However, compliance rates are as low as 6% - 14% when assessed by both the WHO 5 moments and 6-step hand hygiene technique, and as much as 50% of avoidable infections are caused by poor hand hygiene. This session examines how hand hygiene compliance is measured, real-world challenges of hand hygiene, trends and future developments including the new international standard for hand hygiene, and the role technology can play in helping hospitals achieve compliance of hand hygiene standards.