In order to promote the compliance of hand hygiene, as well as to reduce healthcare associated infection (HAI), the World Health Organization (WHO) launched a global annual initiative of “Save Lives: Clean Your Hands” on May 5, 2010. The campaign is aimed to draw healthcare facilities and workers’ attention to HAI, and to promote hand hygiene as a tool to protect healthcare workers and patients. On May 4, 2010, the Department of Health (DOH) Deputy Minister, Dr. Shen-Chwen Chang, represented Taiwan to make a declaration that promises to advocate the control of HAI and invite healthcare facilities nationwide to practice hand hygiene.

Not only has HAI been a heavy burden to the global healthcare system, it has also affected the global economy in a great deal. However, most of the HAIs are evitable. When WHO launched the World Alliance for Patient Safety, “Clean Care is Safer Care” was brought forth to be the first global patient safety challenge. The most efficient way to reduce HAI is compliance with hand hygiene; however, on average, approximately 60% of healthcare workers worldwide do not fully comply with the practice of safe hand hygiene during patient care processes. Hence, in order to improve the level of hand hygiene compliance among healthcare workers, WHO has continuously promoted “Save Lives: Clean Your Hands” as an extension to the Challenge program implemented since 2009, and brought forth the 5 Moments for Hand Hygiene, which are: before touching a patient, before clean/aseptic procedures, after body fluid exposure/risk, after touching a patient, and after touching patient surroundings. At the same time, WHO has developed a comprehensive tool kit and a set of training materials, hoping to make healthcare workers put the idea of 5 Moments for Hand Hygiene into daily practice.

It is the second year since the initiation of the campaign, and WHO has set the goal of having 10,000 healthcare facilities to participate in the campaign to show their commitment to improving hand hygiene by May, 2010. In Taiwan, DOH has considered HAI control as one of the major issues in healthcare quality and patient safety for several years. Through external inspection, audit and accreditation, cooperation with professional academic associations and groups, and amendments of regulations and rewarding policies, DOH hopes to further promote HAI control in Taiwan.

To show Taiwan’s willingness and determination to advocate the prevention of HAI with the members of WHO, and to stay in line with the international society, the Deputy Minister of DOH, Dr. Shen-Chwen Chang, made a declaration on behalf of Taiwan to advocate the patient safety challenge, “Clean Care is Safer Care.”, on 4 May, 2010. Furthermore, hospitals around Taiwan were also invited to participate in the “Save Lives: Clean Your Hands” campaign. As of now, more than 200 hospitals have agreed to participate in the campaign. The participating hospitals will be listed on the Taiwan CDC website as a reference to the public and as an attempt to strengthen hospitals’ motivation of pursuing better healthcare quality and enhance the culture of patient safety.