EU-WHO project awarded winners of hand hygiene competition

The competition participants received handwashing and sterile glove-wearing training as part of the hand hygiene competition.

1418 students studying at 18 medical faculties and nursing schools in Baku and regions took part in the training held within the competition and passed the post-test, and 212 of them submitted their videos. A jury of WHO experts evaluated and selected 21 of the submitted videos as winners. The winners received prizes, including a laptop, a tablet, and various medical devices and certificates. The results of the competition were also presented at the International Conference on Infection Prevention and Control in Geneva, Switzerland in September 2021.

Hand hygiene is a crucial element of infection prevention and control measures. Proper hand hygiene can help to contain the spread of infections, including COVID-19, and thus is particularly important during the ongoing pandemic.

The competition and training helped students to enhance their knowledge on how to properly wash hands and use hand sanitizer, learn handwashing steps using the WHO technique.

Previously, as part of the EU-WHO project, series of webinars were held on hand hygiene for healthcare workers, hand hygiene posters were distributed to the conflict-affected regions and assessments were made in the hospitals on infection prevention and control. The project will continue to support the country’s efforts to increase its ability to prevent, detect and respond to health threats.