WHO research agenda on the role of the institutional safety climate for hand hygiene improvement: a Delphi consensus-building study.

Background: Creating and sustaining an institutional climate conducive to patient and health worker safety is a critical element of successful multimodal hand hygiene improvement strategies aimed at achieving best practices. Repeated WHO global surveys indicate that the institutional safety climate consistently ranks the lowest among various interventions.

Methods: To develop an international expert consensus on research agenda priorities related to the role of institutional safety climate within the context of a multimodal hand hygiene improvement strategy, we conducted a structured consensus process involving a purposive sample of international experts.

World Health Organization World Hand Hygiene Day, 5 May 2024. SAVE LIVES: Clean Your Hands campaign: Promoting knowledge and capacity building on infection prevention and control, including hand hygiene, among health and care workers.

The World Health Organization's (WHO) World Hand Hygiene Day continues to

Updates and future directions regarding hand hygiene in the healthcare setting: insights from the 3rd ICPIC alcohol-based handrub (ABHR) task force.

Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) pose threats to global health. Effective hand hygiene is essential for preventing HAIs and the spread of AMR in healthcare. We aimed to highlight the recent progress and future directions in hand hygiene and alcohol-based handrub (ABHR) use in the healthcare setting.

Economic evaluations of interventions to prevent and control health-care-associated infections: a systematic review.

Almost 9 million health-care-associated infections have been estimated to occur each year in European hospitals and long-term care facilities, and these lead to an increase in morbidity, mortality, bed occupancy, and duration of hospital stay. The aim of this systematic review was to review the cost-effectiveness of interventions to limit the spread of health-care-associated infections), framed by WHO infection prevention and control core components. The Embase, National Health Service Economic Evaluation Database, Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects, Health Technology Assessment, Cinahl, Scopus, Pediatric Economic Database Evaluation, and Global Index Medicus databases, plus grey literature were searched for studies between Jan 1, 2009, and Aug 10, 2022.

Implementation of hand hygiene in health-care facilities: results from the WHO Hand Hygiene Self-Assessment Framework global survey 2019.

Background: Hand hygiene is at the core of effective infection prevention and control (IPC) programmes. 10 years after the development of the WHO Multimodal Hand Hygiene Improvement Strategy, we aimed to ascertain the level of hand hygiene implementation and its drivers in health-care facilities through a global WHO survey.

Methods: From Jan 16 to Dec 31, 2019, IPC professionals were invited through email and campaigns to complete the online Hand Hygiene Self-Assessment Framework (HHSAF).

The first WHO global survey on infection prevention and control in health-care facilities.

Background: WHO core components for infection prevention and control (IPC) are important building blocks for effective IPC programmes. To our knowledge, we did the first WHO global survey to assess implementation of these programmes in health-care facilities.

Methods: In this cross-sectional survey, IPC professionals were invited through global outreach and national coordinated efforts to complete the online WHO IPC assessment framework (IPCAF).

Comparing the effectiveness of hand hygiene techniques in reducing the microbial load and covering hand surfaces in healthcare workers: Updated systematic review.

Background: This review, commissioned by the World Health Organization (WHO), examined the effectiveness of the WHO 6-step hand hygiene (HH) technique in reducing microbial load on hands and covering hand surfaces, and compared its effectiveness to other techniques.

Methods: Medline, CINAHL, ProQuest, Web of Science, Mednar, and Google Scholar were searched for primary studies, published in English (1978-February 2021), evaluating the microbiological effectiveness or hand surface coverage of HH techniques in healthcare workers. Reviewers independently performed quality assessment using Cochrane tools.

Mask use in community settings in the context of COVID-19: A systematic review of ecological data.

Background: The wearing of medical and non-medical masks by the general public in community settings is one intervention that is important for the reduction of SARS-CoV-2 transmission, and has been the subject of considerable research, policy, advocacy and debate. Several observational studies have used ecological (population-level) data to assess the effect of masks on transmission, hospitalization, and mortality at the region or community level.

Methods: We undertook this systematic review to summarize the study designs, outcomes, and key quality indicators of using ecological data to evaluate the association between mask wearing and COVID-19 outcomes.

"Seconds save lives - clean your hands": the 5 May 2021 World Health Organization SAVE LIVES: Clean Your Hands campaign.

To highlight the urgent need to save lives by implementing best practices in health care delivery, the slogan for 5 May 2021, world hand hygiene day, is "Seconds save lives - clean your hands". The WHO campaign calls to action key stakeholders: health care workers, IPC practitioners, patients and families, facility managers, policy-makers, vaccinators, and the general public who can play critical roles in achieving optimal hand hygiene at the point of care, helping to strengthen society involvement.

Implementation of the infection prevention and control core components at the national level: a global situational analysis.

Background: Strengthening infection prevention and control (IPC) is essential to combat healthcare-associated infections, antimicrobial resistance, and to prevent and respond to outbreaks.

Aim: To assess national IPC programmes worldwide according to the World Health Organization (WHO) IPC core components.

Methods: Between June 1, 2017 and November 30, 2018, a multi-country, cross-sectional study was conducted, based on semi-structured interviews with national IPC focal points of countries that pledged to the WHO 'Clean Care is Safer Care' challenge.

Epidemiology and burden of sepsis acquired in hospitals and intensive care units: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Purpose: Sepsis is recognized as a global public health problem, but the proportion due to hospital-acquired infections remains unclear. We aimed to summarize the epidemiological evidence related to the burden of hospital-acquired (HA) and ICU-acquired (ICU-A) sepsis.

Methods: We searched MEDLINE, Embase and the Global Index Medicus from 01/2000 to 03/2018.