This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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National hand washing campaign
12/01/2007
A £2.5 million national awareness campaign on hand hygiene was launched today with the message: 'Germs - wash your hands of them'.
The campaign will include television adverts, motion-sensored talking posters in public toilets and prompts for customers using some cash machines.
Health Minister Andy Kerr said:
"It is a simple fact that hand washing is one of the single most important things you can do to help to reduce the spread of infections and is key to preventing ill health. Just wash your hands regularly with soap and warm water and you and your family are more likely to stay healthy
"We can all play a part in reducing the spread of infection by washing our hands more thoroughly and more regularly.
"Our campaign aims to achieve a widespread and long-term change in attitudes and behaviour, to improve hand hygiene practice and reduce avoidable illness.
"The key message of the campaign is 'germs - wash your hands of them.' It's a simple message, but washing our hands is something that we don't always do perhaps because our hands don't look dirty, we don't have time, or we don't believe it makes any difference.
"But it does make a difference. The most common way germs are spread is by people's hands and they can carry a range of bugs, including food poisoning and diarrhoea, viruses like flu and more serious germs like MRSA and E-coli.
"Good hand hygiene is also crucial to preventing and controlling the spread of infection in the NHS. We have already introduced alcohol-based hand rubs by every front-line hospital bed. Infection control is everyone's business and staff, visitors and patients can make a difference just by making sure that their hands are clean."
Jane McCready, Chair of the Royal College of Nursing Scotland, said:
'The RCN recognises that clean hands are the single most effective way of combating healthcare associated infections. We promote this message through the RCN Wipe it Out campaign and fully support the Scottish Executive's initiative to increase awareness of the importance of hand hygiene across both the NHS and the general population."
Dr Charles Saunders, Chair of the BMA Scotland's Public Health Committee, said:
"The BMA welcomes this campaign. Scotland leads the way in the UK in the fight against HAIs, but we must not become complacent. Careful and consistent handwashing in hospitals and other settings by healthcare workers, visitors and patients remains the single most effective way of helping to avoid HAIs."
Professor Didier Pittet, a leading expert in hand hygiene and adviser to the World Health Organization, said:
"By launching this national hand hygiene promotion campaign, health authorities, hospitals and stakeholders in Scotland are confirming their major commitment to making patient safety a daily reality at the bedside."
An associated website will be launched on Monday- www.washyourhandsofthem.com