Fighting antibiotic resistance

Posted on 5 May 2017

The World Health Organization has intensified its drive to address the threat of global antimicrobial resistance. And hand hygiene is central to tackling this.

Every year on 5 May, the World Health Organization (WHO) marks Hand Hygiene Day. The ‘Save Lives: Clean Your Hands’ campaign highlights the importance of hand hygiene in health care. The aim is to sustain hand hygiene improvement worldwide and so reduce microbial transmission of healthcare-associated infections. According to WHO, adequate hand hygiene reduces the risk of health care-associated infections and has the potential to save eight million lives worldwide every year in hospitals alone.

Antibiotic resistance
In 2017, the focus is firmly on how proper hand hygiene can stop the spread of antibiotic resistance. Infections by multidrug-resistant organisms are increasing worldwide. At the same time, the number of antibiotics available to treat these infections is extremely limited, resulting in what WHO calls ‘one of the most complex global health challenges’ as it threatens to reverse the significant progress against infectious diseases made since the discovery of antibiotics.

Tackling antibiotic resistance requires action on multiple levels, including the prudent use of antibiotics. Another key action is to ensure that resistant microorganisms aren’t spread via the hands of healthcare workers.

‘Hand hygiene is a critical aspect of patient safety – one of the core values of Mediclinic,’ says Briëtte du Toit, infection prevention and control manager for Mediclinic. ‘Preventing the spread and control of multidrug-resistant organisms in our hospitals is critical and we run a year-round infection prevention and control programme to protect our patients from resistant infections.’

Clean hands lead to safer care
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the US, healthcare providers may need to clean their hands as many as 100 times per 12-hour shift, depending on the number of patients and intensity of care.

Worldwide, says WHO, one in 10 patients get an infection while receiving care, while more than half of surgical site infections can be antibiotic resistant. The good news is that effective infection prevention and control reduces health care-associated infections by at least 30%. The organisation has identified five key moments for hand hygiene to prevent the spread of resistant or sensitive organisms that can be present on or in patients or in the environment.

 In good hands
The bottom line? ‘Clean hands make our hospitals a safer place to receive care,’ says du Toit. ‘Mediclinic actively participates in World Hand Hygiene Day on 5 May every year, and we’re committed to spreading the word among healthcare workers, patients and visitors about the significant role of this practice in managing good health, and to monitoring compliance regularly.’