“It’s in Your Hands—Prevent Sepsis in Health Care”: 5 May 2018, World Health Organization (WHO) SAVE LIVES: Clean Your Hands Campaign

To the Editor—Sepsis is a life-threatening organ dysfunction caused by a dysregulated host response to infection. ¹ It is estimated to affect more than 30 million people worldwide every year with high mortality and morbidity. ² Sepsis was reported as a key global health issue at the 70th World Health Assembly (WHA) in 2017, where a resolution on sepsis was adopted by member states. ³

Sepsis can result from care practices and complicates healthcare-associated infections. Hand hygiene, a core of infection prevention and control (IPC), plays a critical role in preventing such avoidable events. ^{4 , 5} Each year, the World Health Organization (WHO) “SAVE LIVES: Clean Your Hands” campaign aims to bring people together in support of hand hygiene improvement globally on or around May 5. ⁶ In 2018, the campaign focuses on supporting the prevention of sepsis in health care. The WHO urges ministries of health, health facility leaders, IPC leaders, health workers, and patient advocacy groups to take action on hand hygiene to prevent sepsis in health care (Figure 1 and Supplemental Table 1). The WHO also invites health facilities to join the global campaign to demonstrate ongoing commitment to hand hygiene and IPC (http://www.who.int/infection-prevention/campaigns/clean-hands/register/en/).

FIGURE 1 “It’s in your hands—prevent sepsis in health care.” 5 May 2018 World Health Organization (WHO) “SAVE LIVES: Clean Your Hands” campaign slogan and main promotional image (2018 hashtags: #HandHygiene #Sepsis). Campaign participants are invited to submit photos/selfies of them holding a board with the slogan and hashtags at www.CleanHandsSaveLives.org.

Each hand hygiene action contributes to preventing sepsis in health care: Let’s act together, “It’s in Your Hands—Prevent Sepsis in Health Care.”