Germs are often spread by hands, especially in a hospital. This is why nurses, care personnel and doctors need easy access to hand wash facilities and hand sanitisers. The WHO explicitly draws attention to this on this year's World Hand Hygiene Day.
Every year on 5 May, the World Health Organisation (WHO) celebrates the World Hand Hygiene Day. The date symbolises the five fingers on each human hand - five plus five. World Hand Hygiene Day draws attention to the importance of hand hygiene as a protection against infections. This year it is dedicated to those who are currently doing an amazing job under even greater pressure than usual: nurses and midwives. Healthcare workers are at the forefront of the fight against infections caused by the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2). SARS-CoV-2 is transmitted from person to person via droplet infection.
Which hand-sanitisers are particularly effective?
More than in any other field, in public health institutions, there is a great need to ensure that respiratory masks are worn and intensive hand hygiene is practiced to prevent the spread of infection. In addition to hand washing, the WHO explicitly recommends hand sanitising in hospitals. Sanitisers that contain at least 60 percent ethanol are most effective. The alcohol destroys the proteins of enveloped viruses. Coronaviruses are a large genus of envelopped viruses. This renders the virus ineffective within seconds.
Nurses should follow the "5 Moments for Hand Hygiene". Therefore, hand hygiene must be carried out in the following situations:
- before touching a patient,
- before clean/aseptic procedures,
- after body fluid exposure/risk,
- after touching a patient, and
- after touching patient surroundings.
How should nurses sanitise their hands?
To ensure that the hand sanitisers work properly, they must be applied to the entire palm and back of the hands. Hands should be rubbed against each other until the alcohol gel is completely dried.
However, the WHO warns that hand hygiene advice cannot always be appropriately followed in clinics and care facilities. The overcrowding of health care facilities, the lack of clearly defined patient zones and also the lack of access to hand sanitisers prevents an effective hand hygiene routine in 20 percent of cases.
At the moment, hygiene products are in high demand in areas outside healthcare. This has led to a bottleneck in hospitals, increasing the risk of medical staff being infected by COVID-19 immensely.
In which areas hand washing is effective
Considering the severity of COVID-19, it is crucial to support the WHO guidelines and promote the "SAVE LIVES: Clean Your Hands" campaign all over the world. This means for example that anyone who is not working in healthcare should avoid buying excessive amounts of hand sanitiser, especially when they have access to hand washing facilities.
Outside of highly germ-laden risk areas, regular hand washing reliably contributes to the interruption of infectious disease chains. Please leave hand sanitisers to those who contribute to a functioning healthcare system in our hospitals. The well-being of society is in the hands of all of us!
GOJO is continuing to add substantially more production capacity so that PURELL® products will be available in public spaces like office buildings, airports, restaurants and schools to help people go ‘back to work’ and ‘back to life’ with confidence.
These efforts to increase capacity include working with federal, state and local elected officials, engaging with other like-minded, purpose-driven companies to increase supply of alcohol, bottles, and pumps, and investing in substantial expansion of manufacturing operations – ensuring GOJO capacity can meet major increases in demand in the future.
On our own behalf
Despite the increase in our production volumes, we cannot meet current demand from new customers. Therefore, we can only supply registered users, primarily from the health care, elderly care and public service sectors. If you belong to one of these groups, please use our registration form and we will activate your account.
