Hand hygiene key to fighting antimicrobial resistance — NAOWA
Hand hygiene key to fighting antimicrobial resistance — NAOWA
The Nigeria Army Officers’ Wives Association (NAOWA) Specialist Hospital says proper hand hygiene remains one of the most effective and cost-efficient ways to prevent infections and reduce antimicrobial resistance across healthcare and community settings.
Lt.-Col. Majebi Adeiza, public health expert and Infection Prevention and Control focal person at the hospital, said this on Tuesday in Abuja during the commemoration of World Hand Hygiene Day.
He said antimicrobial resistance was being worsened by the misuse and overuse of antibiotics, warning that continued indiscriminate use of antimicrobial drugs could make them ineffective in the long term.
According to him, global efforts to combat antimicrobial resistance must prioritise preventing infections before they occur, with hand hygiene serving as a critical first line of defence in healthcare delivery systems.
“The goal of antimicrobial resistance reduction is to reduce the need for antibiotics by preventing infections from occurring. That is the essence of hand hygiene,” he said.
He traced modern hand hygiene practice to Hungarian physician Ignaz Semmelweis, who proved that handwashing with chlorinated water significantly reduced maternal deaths from puerperal fever in hospital settings.
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He said that Semmelweis reduced mortality rates from about 18 per cent to less than 2 per cent within one year, describing him as a pioneer of infection prevention and a lifesaver of mothers.
Adeiza said World Hand Hygiene Day, established by the World Health Organization and observed every May 5, underscored the global importance of clean hands in preventing disease transmission and improving safety outcomes.
He explained that the 2026 theme focused on moving from awareness to action, emphasising that knowledge alone was insufficient without consistent behavioural practice in both clinical and community environments.
“We are moving from awareness to action. Hand hygiene must translate into measurable behavioural change,” he said, emphasising the need for sustained practice across all healthcare levels.
He described hand hygiene as a key frontline defence against antimicrobial resistance, noting its role in breaking the chain of infection transmission in hospitals and within communities at large.
He defined proper hand hygiene as washing with soap and running water or using alcohol-based hand rubs containing 60–80 per cent alcohol for effective microbial removal and prevention.
He cautioned against errors such as rushed washing, missing critical areas like fingertips and thumbs, and improper drying, all of which reduced the effectiveness of hand hygiene practices.
Adeiza outlined key moments for hand hygiene in clinical practice, including before and after patient contact, before procedures, after exposure to body fluids, and after removal of gloves.
He emphasised that glove use did not replace hand hygiene, adding that strict compliance remained essential to ensuring patient safety and preventing hospital-acquired infections.
He also called for institutionalising infection prevention practices, saying healthcare facilities must build a strong culture of safety where hand hygiene became routine and automatic.
“Hand hygiene must be embedded in the culture of care. It should not depend on reminders but become automatic,” he said, urging systemic adoption.
He further emphasised the importance of monitoring compliance and using data-driven feedback to strengthen infection prevention systems and improve healthcare quality.
At the highest level of compliance, he said patients were empowered to ask healthcare workers if they had cleaned their hands, describing it as a mark of a mature safety culture.
He said sustained education, accountability, and monitoring remained critical in combating antimicrobial resistance and improving overall patient safety outcomes in healthcare delivery systems.
The Chief Medical Director of NAOWA Specialist Hospital, Brig.-Gen. Abraham Ayeni, said awareness was no longer the challenge, but consistent execution remains the key determinant of outcomes in infection prevention.
Ayeni said hand hygiene was one of the simplest yet most effective safeguards in healthcare, emphasising that consistency determined how well it protected patients, staff, and communities from infections.
He said World Hand Hygiene Day shifted focus from knowledge to action, emphasising the need to practise clean hand habits reliably and without compromise in all healthcare interactions.
“Consistent hand hygiene is where safer care begins,” he said, adding that clean hands remained a powerful tool for protecting individuals, families, and communities from preventable infections.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the event was organised by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) in collaboration with the Ministry of Defence Health Implementation Programme and NAOWA Specialist Hospital.
