Al Ahli Hospital, in celebration of the International Hand Hygiene Day, has held a special event to remind staff, physicians and patients about their role in patient safety.
One of the activities involves the use of Glo Germ, which is a neon gel that one put on his/her hands before washing them.
“Hand hygiene is one of the most important things we can do in healthcare to prevent illness,” said Dr Mohamed El Ahmadi, director of the Pathology & Laboratory Medicine Department at Al Ahli Hospital and a specialist on infectious diseases. 
“And hand washing is the easiest thing we can do,” El Ahmadi said.
Snehalata Syed, infection control co-ordinator at Al Ahli Hospital, added: “Each year, the hand hygiene campaign aims to stress the importance of hand hygiene at Al Ahli Hospital and bring healthcare workers and patients together in support of hand hygiene, which reduces the risk of healthcare-associated infection.
“The theme of the World Health Organisation (WHO)’s Hand Hygiene Day this is year is ‘Clean care for all, it’s in your hands’. Poor hand hygiene leads to the spread of germs, including those resistant to antibiotics.
“This can put patients at risk of contracting a potentially fatal healthcare-associated infection.”
With support from the administrative management and infection control personnel, Al Ahli Hospital celebrated the Hand Hygiene Day by visiting every unit in groups.
The groups held demonstrations related to hand hygiene and kept their audience motivated with giveaways, while also reminding them of the “5 Moments for Hand Hygiene”, the causes of antibiotics resistance and how to combat it.
The infection control department held activities specially arranged for the day, Syed added.