WHO program improves U.S. medical facility hand hygiene

(HealthDay)—For U.S. health care facilities, participation in the World Health Organization (WHO) global campaign to improve hand hygiene practices is associated with improved hand hygiene, according to a study published in the March issue of the American Journal of Infection Control.

Benedetta Allegranzi, M.D., from the WHO in Geneva, and colleagues examined implementation of the 2009 WHO multimodal strategy and campaign to improve hand hygiene practices. U.S. facilities participating in the global campaign were invited to complete the validated Hand Hygiene Self-Assessment Framework online.

A total of 168 facilities (7.5 percent) participated in the survey. On detailed analysis of 129, mainly nonteaching public facilities, the researchers found that most had an advanced (48.9 percent) or intermediate (45.0 percent) level of hand hygiene implementation progress. For facilities with staffing levels of infection preventionists more than 0.75 per 100 beds versus those with lower ratios, and for facilities participating in hand hygiene campaigns, the total Hand Hygiene Self-Assessment Framework score was higher (36 points [P = 0.01] and 41 points [P = 0.002], respectively).

"These results should encourage the launch of a coordinated national campaign and higher participation in the WHO global campaign," the authors write.