Hand Hygiene Has its Day Around the World

Clean hands and hand hygiene are our passion. It is why HANDY Hand Sanitizers were invented, using UV-C lighting to create the most effective way to sanitize your hands—even better than alcohol-based gel sanitizers.

Thus, it’s obvious why we are happy to observe World Hand Hygiene Day, an annual global health observation held on May 5. To us, the timing is perfect—among the numerous learnings from the global pandemic is society’s heightened awareness of the benefits of hand sanitization in reducing germ spread.

As HANDY founder Dan Zubic said in a recent Q&A, “During the pandemic, the world understandably focused on the coronavirus, but there are a lot of other germs out there that people ignore or have forgotten about. These overlooked pathogens can compromise your health. And to make matters worse, they're easily transmittable from hand to hand, from hand to surface, from surface to hand, and so on.

“The pandemic has reinforced the idea that we should be aware of these invisible dangers and sanitize our hands on a regular basis. This is especially true in public environments and where people will exchange touches, such as door handles, fitness equipment and retail touchscreens to name just a few.”

The World Health Organization’s “SAVE LIVES: Clean Your Hands” global campaign, launched in 2009 and celebrated annually on May 5 (World Hand Hygiene Day), aims to maintain global promotion, visibility, and sustainability of hand hygiene in health care and to “bring people together” in support of hand hygiene improvement around the world.

Meanwhile, the US Centers for Disease Control participates in the global event with its “Clean Hands Count” campaign. The CDC campaign aims to:

• Improve healthcare provider adherence to CDC hand hygiene recommendations.
• Address the myths and misperceptions about hand hygiene.
• Empower patients to play a role in their care by asking or reminding healthcare providers to clean their hands.

At HANDY, Hand Hygiene Day is an opportunity to highlight our mission and our purpose—be a strong contributor to a healthy ecosystem by enabling effective hand sanitization. We’re proud of our efforts to date, and we’re just getting started!

“Hand sanitization, either via an alcohol gel or with the HANDY UV-C sanitizer, is a complement to proper hand washing,” says Dan Zubic. “However, hand washing is part of the problem society faces—very few people wash their hands properly, most people don’t do it frequently, thoroughly, or long enough, and hand washing isn’t possible in many locations and circumstances. Hence, the need for hand sanitizers.

“But gels fall short in many ways. The need to sanitize is going to continue and I hope HANDY is an ongoing part of that process. We are a different way, a more effective way, to sanitize hands, all without the mess.”

Join us in the drive to better hand sanitization and a healthier ecosystem….wherever people gather!