Soon it's October 15th, and another World Day. This time, it's Global Handwashing Day. The WHO initiated it in 2008 and it is part of the "Save lives – clean your hands" campaign. But is hand washing really an issue that needs a global day of its own?  Yes and here we show you why.
In principle, washing and disinfecting hands is simple. And not only in clinics and medical practices, it is well known: hands are the most significant pathogenic transmission vehicles. That's why handwashing is one of the important measures for preventing infections. Our infograph shows the essential steps.

Theoretical knowledge is not always practicable in everyday life, however. Many infections would be prevented if people cleaned their hands according to a specific procedure, at the critical moments in time. With a systematic disinfection 5 to 8 million deaths could be prevented each year, explains Professor Didier Pittet, Director of the Infection Control Program at the Geneva University Hospital, member of the medical faculty at the University of Geneva and External Director of the WHO First Global Patient Safety Challenge: Clean Care is Safer Care, in his TEDx-Talk.

B. Braun is a founding member of the Private Organization for Patient Safety (POPS) of the World Health Organization (WHO). The goal is to achieve a reduction in therapy-associated infections by improving hand hygiene on the basis of the WHO program "Clean Care is Safer Care." B. Braun is committed to raising global awareness of the importance of hand hygiene, for example with the Hand Hygiene Excellence Award.