This Friday, Nov 18: WHO Global Webinar for World Antimicrobial Awareness Week 2022

To kick off World Antimicrobial Awareness Week 2022, the WHO is hosting a free global webinar on infection prevention and control, titled ‘Back to the Future: Inspiring the Next Generation on Hand Hygiene’. Register now to participate virtually and for free this Friday, November 18, at 13:00h Central European Time.

Infection prevention and control (IPC) action is acknowledged as playing a prominent role in curbing emerging and ongoing threats in health-related activities ranging from water, sanitation, and hygiene and health worker and patient safety to preventing specific conditions, such as AMR and sepsis.

Outline

IPC is essential to prevent the spread of microorganisms both in the context of outbreaks and every day in settings where healthcare is delivered. IPC has a critical role in combating antimicrobial resistance (AMR), essentially through two means:

  1. by stopping the spread of antimicrobial-resistant microorganisms, and

  2. by reducing the frequency of infection and thus, the need for using antimicrobials which inevitably leads to the emergence of AMR.

Whether implemented as a stand-alone intervention or integrated into multifaceted interventions, hand hygiene has been highlighted as the most effective single measure for reducing the transmission of microorganisms and infection in healthcare settings.

This WHO global webinar will be held in the context of the World Antimicrobial Awareness Week 2022 and is aimed at highlighting the importance of hand hygiene to reduce infection and AMR in healthcare settings. It will also be an exceptional moment to celebrate the career of Professor Didier Pittet whose work and leadership have been revolutionary and paramount in hand hygiene improvement worldwide. Furthermore, other experts who contributed to the research, development, and implementation of innovative strategies for hand hygiene improvement will be part of a panel discussion.

Objectives

  • To review innovative approaches that changed the history of hand hygiene promotion

  • To understand the adaptation and adoption of evidence-based strategies for hand hygiene improvement worldwide

  • To highlight the example of an exceptional global leader and inspire the next generation of leaders on hand hygiene

The webinar will be held in English, with simultaneous interpretation available in Arabic, Chinese, Spanish, Russian, and French.

Marvin Zick