The Primary Health Care Corporation (PHCC) has launched the seventh campaign for hand hygiene, in connection with the International Day for Hand Hygiene, marked on May 5 every year.

The activities target all workers in PHCC and the community in general, through guidance, awareness lectures, and distributing brochures emphasising the importance of hand hygiene.

Held under the theme, "Clean Hands, Happy Life," PHCC aims the campaign to improve and consolidate the practice of hand hygiene, and motivate the community and the health centre employees to reduce the rate of infection

The campaign will focus on educating health centre staff, as well as visitors to prevent the spread of germs, as many diseases are transmitted through direct contact with individuals or because of the surrounding environment.The lack of hand hygiene is the reason of spreading many types of bacteria and diseases such as seasonal flu, diarrhea and others.

PHCC also works to avoid various risks that may occur in health centres, such as preventing the transmission of germs by ensuring the provision of detergents, organising events and distributing leaflets and publications that would raise awareness about hand hygiene among the visitors of health centres.

Hand contact is considered a key means of transferring several infectious diseases either through direct contact such as handshake or through indirect contact with surrounding objects contaminated with bacteria or viruses, such as door handles, escalators, shopping carts, elevators buttons and coins among others. Handwashing also protects people from air-transmitted diseases such as measles, influenza as well as tuberculosis.