Sci-Tech Desk: Hand hygiene is the most important thing when it comes to clean and safe medical care. Medical gloves are one of the most common ways of preventing transmission of infections. Doctors often use hand gloves to protect the patient form the risk of exposure to body fluid and blood.
However, in a recent blog post the World Health Organization (WHO) has said that hand glove is not the substitute for cleaning hands at the right time because gloves can too become contaminated when they are overused and not replaced for every patient.
Renewing its call for better hand hygiene practice, the WHO therefore have urged the governments, health-care facilities, and frontline workers around the world for improved hand hygiene practices to protect public health and the spread of infections.
It says that improver glove uses not only put people’s lives at risk, but also adds significantly to health-care waste, which can be avoided by maintaining proper hand hygiene practices like washing hand regularly and using gloves only when necessary.
Highlighting the magnitude waste generated in hospitals, the blog says an average university hospital in a developed country generates 1634 tons of healthcare waste each year, which is equivalent to over 360 African elephants.
To combat this, WHO has asked the healthcare community around the world to train health professionals on appropriate use of gloves, minimize healthcare waste by reducing unnecessary use of gloves and its misuse, and provide necessary resources to enable hand hygiene to be practiced in the point of care.
Source: who.int
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