World Hand Hygiene Day

Each year, since 2009, the SAVE LIVES: Clean Your Hands campaign aims to progress the goal of maintaining a global profile on the importance of hand hygiene and infection prevention and control in health care and to ‘bring people together’ in support of improvement globally.

The 2026 campaign – 18 years of SAVE LIVES: Clean Your Hands

A large proportion of avoidable infections acquired during health care delivery could still be prevented with hand hygiene and infection prevention and control (IPC) action at the right times. This provides a high return on investment for health systems and countries. In this 18th year of the WHO world hand hygiene day, we call on those providing and supporting health care to refresh their action on hand hygiene and IPC to ensure patient and health worker safety.

2026 SAVE LIVES: Clean Your Hands slogan – Action saves lives.​

Health care-associated infections (HAIs) affect health systems every day and are a daily threat to patients in every health care setting, including during public health emergencies. They contribute to the antimicrobial resistance (AMR) burden, cause immense suffering to patients, families and health workers, premature deaths and disability​, higher health care costs and hamper efforts to achieve high-quality care for all​.

Hand hygiene and IPC best practices are also affected by the built environment including lack of water, sanitation, waste management and hygiene (WASH), which also impact equity and dignity among both those providing and receiving care​.

In 2026 IPC action including hand hygiene, is critical now more than ever.