What’s New for World Hand Hygiene Day 2026? Latest highlights from JHI & IPIP Journals

This year’s World Hand Hygiene Day messaging from WHO highlights a critical challenge: effective hand hygiene and infection prevention and control (IPC) cannot be achieved without a safe, functional built environment. Gaps in access to clean water, adequate sanitation, waste management, and hygiene infrastructure continue to undermine best practice across healthcare settings.

Healthcare‑associated infections (HAIs) remain a persistent risk for patients in hospitals and clinics worldwide, including during public health emergencies. These infections contribute significantly to the burden of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), place immense strain on patients, families, and healthcare workers, and can lead to avoidable death, disability, and increased healthcare costs, ultimately threatening progress towards high‑quality, equitable care.

Evidence consistently shows that many infections acquired during healthcare delivery are preventable. Timely and appropriate hand hygiene, alongside other IPC measures, plays a central role in reducing avoidable harm. Importantly, investment in IPC and hand hygiene delivers high value for money, strengthening health systems and improving outcomes across all income settings.

In the collection featured below, HIS journals – Journal of Hospital Infection (JHI) and Infection Prevention in Practice (IPIP), showcase recent research exploring how knowledge, behaviour, attitudes, and systems shape hand hygiene practice. The papers address challenges such as sustaining effective hand hygiene using alcohol‑based hand rubs, deconstructing the six‑step hand rubbing technique, glove changes during caesarean birth, and the use of 'nudge-based' interventions on hand soap usage.

Notably, a recent JHI commentary, “World Hand Hygiene Day 2026: integrating hand hygiene into action plans to meet a global target,” has been featured in WHO's advocacy material, highlighting the global relevance of this work.