microbe talk extra: handwashing and healthcare-associated infections

posted on august 11, 2016   by benjamin thompson

every year, hundreds of millions of patients across the world are affected by healthcare-associated infections, according to estimates from the world health organization (who). these infections can result from a surgery, or from the use of a medical device like a catheter, for example, and cause significant mortality and economic losses.

one of the things that hospital staff can do to prevent these infections is effective handwashing. in this podcast we spoke to professor didier pittet, who has been leading a who campaign to promote the use of alcohol-based hand sanitiser in hospitals and clinics across the globe.