This year is the 18th year of its ‘SAVE LIVES: Clean Your Hands’ campaign and its slogan for 2026 is “Action saves lives”. With this message, it hopes to refocus people’s attention on infection prevention and control (especially since COVID-19), so that patients and health workers are better protected. And, as with many of these awareness days, the message endures beyond the designated 24 hours.
Simple and effective
The WHO says that many avoidable infections that are passed on during health care delivery could be prevented through better hand hygiene. This means that having clean hands is far more important than just being a routine habit. It is a practical measure with a high return on investment for people, health systems and entire countries, helping to support higher-quality care for everyone.
Teaching the basics
Here in the UK, education and training from a young age form the basis of this personal hygiene activity. Teaching children why they should wash their hands regularly is so important to help them establish it as a healthy habit for life.
UNICEF has some simple handwashing guidelines for parents and carers, as does CBeebies Parenting, with its Hey Duggee video.
A reminder for everyone
A key message of the 2026 campaign is that hand hygiene should be part of wider infection prevention and control.
World Hand Hygiene Day 2026 reminds us all to focus on our personal hand washing routines and the WHO asks that those who provide and support health care double down on this too. The goal is to ensure patient safety and health worker safety in all settings.
Clean hands are one of the simplest and most effective tools available in the prevention of illness and ensuring young people know what to do and why from an early age will safeguard not just their own health but that of others in the future.
References
- World hand Hygiene Day 5th May 2026. Available at: https://www.who.int/campaigns/world-hand-hygiene-day/2026 (Accessed 6 May 2026)
- The Bubble Badge: Handwashing with Hey Duggee. Available at https://www.bbc.co.uk/tiny-happy-people/articles/zc4jg2p (Accessed 6 May 2026)
