Department of Laboratory Medical Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences at Islamic University of Gaza participated in World Hand Hygiene Day event held by Infection Control Department at Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital. The event was attended by Dr. Sobhi Skaik – Director General of the Hospital, Dr. Muhammad Abu Nada – Deputy Director of the Hospital, Dr. Abdelraouf Elmanama, Professor of Microbiology and Dean of Quality and Development at Islamic University of Gaza, and Ms. Hanan Fayyad – Head of Infection Control Department at the hospital, in addition to the health staff in the hospital, and a number of students from Faculty of Health Sciences.
The event comes as part of World Hand Hygiene Day campaign, entitled: “Providing health care: quality and safety culture”, which highlights correct and healthy ways of sanitizing hands, and methods of preventing and controlling infection.
Dr. Abu Nada clarified that the event of hand hygiene and infection control falls under the umbrella of community awareness and health education, which the hospital seeks to spread among all community segments by holding and organizing campaigns, seminars, scientific days and educational activities.
Prof. Dr. Elmanama stated that holding this event comes as part of the university’s efforts to participate in the global campaign to promote the culture of hand hygiene. He noted that the campaign slogan is “Unite for Safety: Clean Your Hands” . He also explained that the campaign aims to convince people at all ages of the need to work together to influence culture/climate through knowledge and behavior leading to clean hands, in order to achieve the common goal of safety and quality in healthcare organizations.
The event included conducting two scientific lectures on hand hygiene, delivered by Prof. Dr. Elmanama and Ms. Fayyad, followed by the inauguration of a scientific and educational exhibition.
The first lecture was given by Prof. Dr. Elmanama, where he underlined the role played by medical staff at infection control and prevention in spreading health culture and providing hand hygiene supplies to patients and the community, explaining the pivotal role of quality and safety departments in monitoring and ensuring that all patients, workers and segments of society perform hand hygiene in a scientific, healthy and proper manner. Furthermore, he urged policy makers to prioritize resources, training, and programs related to hand hygiene, referring to scientific studies that indicate low rates of commitment among medical staff to hand hygiene, and that requires emphasizing the importance of continuing education and monitoring to ensure a change in behavior.
Ms. Fayyad, in the second lecture, introduced the concept of hand hygiene, and illustrated the importance of the fact that everyone should not only wash their hands, but also carry that out in the right way that ensures complete removal of germs from all areas of the hands. She also highlighted the recommendations of World Health Organization regarding the process of disinfecting hands, summarized in five important stages: 1- before touching the patient, 2- before performing any surgical intervention even minor, 3- after the risks of exposure to bodily fluids, 4- after touching the patient, 5- after touching the patient’s surroundings.
On the sidelines of the event, and after the two lectures, the students of Faculty of Health Sciences from the Islamic University portrayed the purpose of each corner of the scientific exhibition, where they focused on reviewing scientific experiments that show the attachment of germs to the hands and how they are repelled when exposed to some sterile materials, demonstrating that using food such as black pepper, etc., in order to motivate everyone to wash and sanitize hands constantly.
