World Hand Hygiene Day 2025: It might be gloves. It’s always hand hygiene.

Overview

World Hand Hygiene Day is observed every year on 5 May to promote and improve adherence to hand hygiene practices in health care settings, thereby protecting health care workers and patients from infections.

Key objectives

World Hand Hygiene Day 2025 focuses on reinforcing that gloves are not a substitute for hand hygiene. Proper hand hygiene, performed at the right moments and in the right way, remains one of the most effective measures to protect both patients and health workers.

• Promote a culture of optimal hand hygiene practices: Encourage a work environment where hand hygiene and appropriate glove use are core elements of patient safety practices.
• Educate on correct glove use: Train health workers regularly on when gloves are needed, and when they are not, to avoid unnecessary use and waste.
• Raise awareness of the environmental and climate impact of gloves: Waste generation and management, especially when used unnecessarily.

Key facts

• Approximately 70% of healthcare workers do not routinely practice hand hygiene.
• An average university hospital generates 1,634 tons of healthcare waste each year.
• Currently 68% of countries are in compliance with hand hygiene as a key national indicator.
• Hand hygiene saves millions of lives each year when performed at the right times and in the right way in healthcare settings.
• Healthcare-associated infections are one of the most common problems in healthcare, affecting about 1 in 10 patients on average.

5 Moments for hand hygiene for healthcare workers

1.  Clean your hands before touching a patient
2.  Clean your hands before a clean/aseptic procedure
3.  Clean your hands after body fluid exposure risk
4.  Clean your hands after touching a patient
5.  Clean your hands after touching patient surroundings

Key concerns:

• An average university hospital generates 1,634 tons of healthcare waste each year.
• Gloves make the greatest contribution to the volume of healthcare waste.
• Glove overuse increases plastic waste and harms the environment.
• Using gloves when not indicated wastes resources and does not necessarily reduce the transmission of germs.
• Reducing unnecessary glove use is essential to protect patients, health workers, and the environment.

Calls to action 

• Raise awareness that gloves do not replace hand hygiene.
• Educate fellow healthcare workers on the WHO 5 Moments for Hand Hygiene and how to apply them in everyday patient care.
• Demonstrate best practices by sharing how to correctly perform hand hygiene and remove gloves safely.
• Promote sustainable glove use by encouraging appropriate glove practices to reduce healthcare waste.

Source of information: WHO

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