{"id":339406,"date":"2025-05-06T08:39:31","date_gmt":"2025-05-06T08:39:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2025\/05\/06\/ghana-marks-2025-world-hand-hygiene-day-with-renewed-call-for-infection-control\/"},"modified":"2025-05-06T08:39:31","modified_gmt":"2025-05-06T08:39:31","slug":"ghana-marks-2025-world-hand-hygiene-day-with-renewed-call-for-infection-control","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2025\/05\/06\/ghana-marks-2025-world-hand-hygiene-day-with-renewed-call-for-infection-control\/","title":{"rendered":"Ghana marks 2025 World Hand Hygiene Day with renewed call for infection control"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\"Minister Minister of Health, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh observing personal hygiene<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The Ministry of Health has marked the 2025 World Hand Hygiene Day with a national call to strengthen infection prevention and control (IPC) measures across the country\u2019s healthcare facilities. <\/p>\n

This year\u2019s global theme, \u201cIt may be gloves, it is always hand hygiene,\u201d served as a strong reminder of the irreplaceable role of hand hygiene in protecting patients and health workers alike.<\/p>\n

The commemorative event, held in Accra on May 5, 2025, brought together stakeholders from the Ministry of Health, Ghana Health Service, WHO Ghana, health training institutions, development partners, and civil society organizations.<\/p>\n

The Minister of Health Kwabena Mintah Akandoh emphasized the critical role hand hygiene plays in Ghana\u2019s broader healthcare quality and universal health coverage agenda.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile gloves are indispensable in clinical care, they are never a substitute for proper hand hygiene,\u201d the Minister stated. <\/p>\n

\u201cClean hands remain the bedrock of infection prevention and control. It\u2019s a low-cost, yet powerful intervention that saves lives and protects everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

The minister outlined several national initiatives under the National IPC Strategy, aligned with the WHO\u2019s Global Action Plan (2024\u20132030). These include:<\/p>\n

Establishment of a National IPC Committee,<\/p>\n

Appointment of a national IPC focal person,<\/p>\n

Integration of hand hygiene indicators into the District Health Information Management System (DHIMS2),<\/p>\n

A bold target to ensure routine hand hygiene monitoring in all regional and teaching hospitals by 2026.<\/p>\n

While acknowledging progress, the minister also noted persistent challenges such as inadequate infrastructure, glove misuse, medical waste, and inconsistent supply chains. <\/p>\n

\u201cEvery one of us has a role to play. Let us empower patients to ask, \u2018Have you washed your hands?\u2019 and let us, as health leaders, always lead by example,” he said.<\/p>\n

Delivering a message on behalf of the WHO Country Representative, Dr Sally-Anne Ohene, reinforced the importance of proper glove use alongside routine hand hygiene practices.<\/p>\n

\u201cGloves should never replace hand hygiene,\u201d Dr. Ohene said. \u201cExcessive glove use not only increases healthcare waste but also undermines effective infection control.\u201d<\/p>\n

She cited alarming statistics, noting that approximately 70% of healthcare workers do not consistently practice hand hygiene, and surgical site infections remain high in low- and middle-income countries, averaging 11.8%, compared to 1.2\u20135.2% in developed nations.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe WHO\u2019s \u2018My 5 Moments for Hand Hygiene\u2019 must be adopted universally by healthcare workers. These are life-saving actions, every day of the year,\u201d she stressed.<\/p>\n

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AM\/GA<\/p>\n

#TheAdutwumFactor! Watch as Yaw Osei Adutwum declares intent to contest NPP flagbearership for 2028<\/b><\/p>\n