World Hand Hygiene Day is observed globally on 5 May every year under the World Health Organization (WHO) campaign “SAVE LIVES: Clean Your Hands.” The 2026 theme, “Action Saves Lives,” emphasized the critical role of hand hygiene and infection prevention practices in ensuring patient safety and reducing healthcare-associated infections. WHO continues to advocate optimal hand hygiene practices as one of the most effective and economic measures for preventing infections in healthcare settings.
To commemorate World Hand Hygiene Day 2026, the Department of Microbiology organized a series of educational and cultural competitions involving students, nursing personnel, and housekeeping staff. The objective was to enhance awareness regarding hand hygiene, infection prevention, teamwork, and patient safety through active participation.
Objectives
To promote awareness regarding the importance of hand hygiene in healthcare settings.
To reinforce infection prevention and control practices among healthcare professionals and students.
To encourage creativity, teamwork, and healthy competition.
To engage all categories of healthcare workers in the observance of World Hand Hygiene Day.
