By Jim Arbogast, Ph.D., Hygiene Sciences and Public Health Advancements Vice President, GOJO Industries

As World Hand Hygiene Day approaches on May 5th, we join hospitals around the globe and the World Health Organization (WHO) in raising awareness about the importance of hand hygiene. Using an alcohol-based hand sanitizer (ABHS) frequently at key moments and washing with soap and water when hands are visibly soiled or contaminated are key steps in any infection prevention program. Public health organizations all over the world join in this celebration, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Health Canada.

Experts globally, from the WHO to the CDC, strongly agree that promoting – and practicing – good hand hygiene is an incredibly effective way to reduce germs that may cause illness. Hand hygiene has played an important role in patient care at healthcare facilities for many decades. Practicing good hand hygiene is fundamental to patient safety, whether the setting is a hospital, nursing home, ambulatory surgery center, physician’s office, or other outpatient medical facility.

Accelerate hand hygiene improvement through updated policies and practices

Earlier this year, hand hygiene evidence was used to fuel a very important publication titled “SHEA/IDSA/APIC Practice Recommendation: Strategies to prevent healthcare-associated infections through hand hygiene: 2022 Update.”¹ This is commonly referred to as “The Hand Hygiene Compendium” and it was last updated in 2014. It is a highly collaborative effort that includes 14 coauthors, and it has oversight from six different leading organizations in patient safety:

• The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA), lead authors
• The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
• Association for Professionals in Infection Control (APIC)
• American Hospital Association (AHA)
• Infectious Disease Society of America (IDSA)
• The Joint Commission (TJC)

Some of the key messages with high-quality evidence (defined as having a wide range of studies available) from the 7 “Essential Practices” (EP) in these updated recommendations include:

• “Promote the preferential use of ABHS in most clinical situations.” (Under EP 1: “Promote the maintenance of healthy hand skin and fingernails.”)
• “Confirm that the volume of ABHS dispensed is consistent with the volume shown to be efficacious.” (Under EP 2: “Select appropriate products.”)
• “Educate healthcare personnel (HCP) about an appropriate volume of ABHS and the time required to obtain effectiveness.” (Under EP 2: “Select appropriate products.”)
• “Use multiple methods to measure adherence to hand hygiene.” (Under EP 6: “Monitor adherence to hand hygiene.”)
• Under the “Approaches that Should Not Be Considered a Routine Part of Hand Hygiene” Section: “Do not refill or 'top-off' soap dispensers, moisturizer dispensers, or ABHS dispensers intended for single use.”

At GOJO, we’re committed to advancing the science around hygiene and providing effective, evidence-based products and resources to facilities globally. We are proud that the hand hygiene compendium references four publications that include GOJO scientists as co-authors.^2-5 These references include our pioneering effort to provide ABHS formulations that are efficacious in one dose from our safely designed dispensers and our effort to improve hand hygiene compliance via automated hand hygiene monitoring systems. By using many disciplines of science and engineering to provide hand hygiene solutions, GOJO is helping to improve public health and advance patient safety!

Supporting global public health

GOJO is one of the founding members of the WHO initiative, Private Organizations for Patient Safety (POPS), which launched on World Hand Hygiene Day in 2012. POPS enables the WHO and private organizations to collaboratively work toward improving hand hygiene education and outcomes.

GOJO has been committed to helping the world safely clean their hands for 77 years and leading the science of formulation and delivery systems engineering to ensure every dose of soap or alcohol-based hand rub delivers a safe, efficacious, and pleasant result. Thanks to significant investments in our manufacturing, distribution, and supply chain capabilities over the past two years, we are in a strong position to support all types of healthcare facilities, schools, vaccination centers, restaurants, grocery stores, stores/online retailers, airports, and other businesses with PURELL^® products.

For more information on World Hand Hygiene Day, visit the WHO SAVE LIVES - Clean Your Hands campaign and World Hand Hygiene Day 2023.

References:

1. Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA). Compendium of strategies 2022 updates. SHEA/IDSA/APIC Practice Recommendation: Strategies to prevent healthcare-associated infections through hand hygiene: 2022 Update | Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology | Cambridge Core. Accessed April 3, 2023.

2. Boyce JM, Cooper T, Yin J, Li FY, Arbogast JW. Challenges encountered and lessons learned during a trial of an electronic hand hygiene monitoring system. Am J Infect Control 2019;47:1443–1448. (Reference #28 in The Hand Hygiene Compendium.)

3. Boyce JM, Polgreen PM, Monsalve M, Macinga DR, Arbogast JW. Frequency of use of alcohol-based hand rubs by nurses: a systematic review. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2017;38:189–195. (Reference #68 in The Hand Hygiene Compendium.)

4. Edmonds SL, Macinga DR, Mays-Suko P, et al. Comparative efficacy of commercially available alcohol-based hand rubs and World Health Organization–recommended hand rubs: formulation matters. Am J Infect Control 2012;40:521–525. (Reference #79 in The Hand Hygiene Compendium.)

5. Macinga DR, Edmonds SL, Campbell E, Shumaker DJ, Arbogast JW. Efficacy of novel alcohol-based hand rub products at typical in-use volumes. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2013;34:299–301. (Reference #89 in The Hand Hygiene Compendium.)