Awareness Week

SAVE LIVES: Clean Your Hands Campaign

May 1 – 7, 2026 Recurs yearly

Healthcare workers practicing hand hygiene during the WHO Save Lives: Clean Your Hands campaign.

2026 Theme

Action saves lives

Theme by World Health Organization (WHO)

Campaign Description

The SAVE LIVES: Clean Your Hands campaign is the World Health Organization's annual global advocacy campaign dedicated to improving hand hygiene in healthcare. Launched in 2009, it brings together governments, health ministries, hospitals, healthcare professionals, professional associations, and patient organizations to strengthen infection prevention and control (IPC). Throughout the campaign week, participants promote education, advocacy, policy implementation, and practical actions that improve hand hygiene compliance and reduce healthcare-associated infections worldwide.

Theme Focus

“Action saves lives.” emphasizes that hand hygiene must move beyond awareness and become consistent action at the right time and in the right way. In 2026, WHO called on everyone providing and supporting healthcare to renew action on hand hygiene and IPC to improve the safety of both patients and health workers.

The campaign highlights that a substantial proportion of healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) can be prevented when hand hygiene and other IPC measures are performed appropriately. It also stresses that effective hand hygiene depends on health facilities having reliable access to water, soap, clean towels and alcohol-based handrub, together with education, training, monitoring and institutional commitment.

Key Priorities

  • Perform hand hygiene at the appropriate moments during healthcare delivery.
  • Strengthen compliance with hand hygiene practices among healthcare workers.
  • Integrate hand hygiene into broader infection prevention and control (IPC) programs.
  • Prevent healthcare-associated infections (HAIs).
  • Protect patients, healthcare workers and caregivers from avoidable infections.
  • Strengthen hand hygiene monitoring, feedback and accountability.
  • Ensure continuous availability of water, soap, alcohol-based handrub and other essential supplies.
  • Provide ongoing education and practical training for healthcare workers.
  • Strengthen institutional leadership and commitment to hand hygiene.
  • Address WASH deficiencies that undermine effective infection prevention.
  • Recognize the connection between hand hygiene and antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
  • Maintain effective hand hygiene during outbreaks, emergencies and routine care.
  • Make hand hygiene improvement part of safer, higher-quality healthcare systems.

Key Concepts

  • Hand hygiene
  • Handwashing
  • Alcohol-based handrub
  • Infection prevention and control (IPC)
  • Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs)
  • Patient safety
  • Health worker safety
  • Antimicrobial resistance (AMR)
  • Infection prevention
  • WASH (Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene)
  • Soap and water
  • Hand hygiene compliance
  • Hand hygiene monitoring
  • Hand hygiene feedback
  • Point of care
  • WHO 5 Moments for Hand Hygiene
  • Outbreak prevention
  • Maternal and newborn care
  • Sepsis prevention
  • Environmental hygiene
  • Health-system safety

Campaign Resources & Support

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