From 2019 to 2020, the use of an alcoholic solution for hands in Portuguese health units tripled, which improved compliance with hand hygiene, accentuating the trajectory of a continuous and sustained increase in adherence over the last decade and getting close to the defined goal by the World Health Organization.
According to the Directorate-General for Health (DGS), "these measures, which help to prevent infections and the transmission of microorganisms, have helped to reduce the consumption of antibiotics in the last year and to maintain their effectiveness."
With regard to infection surveillance, there was an important reduction in multiple healthcare-associated infections between 2018 and 2019, for example in infections after orthopedic surgery, after caesarean section or in intensive care services.
With regard to antibiotic consumption, Portugal is very close to the European average in terms of global outpatient antibiotic consumption and, between January and September 2020, compared to the same period of 2019, the dispensing of these drugs in community pharmacies down 20%, adds the DGS.
The consumption of antibiotic classes that are more conducive to the selection of bacteria resistant to these drugs, namely quinolones and carbapenems, has also progressively decreased in Portugal.
These data are revealed on World Hand Hygiene Day, which is marked today, and demonstrate the importance of some of the habits reinforced throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
This day is marked by the General Directorate of Health, through the National Program for the Prevention of Infections and Antimicrobial Resistance (PPCIRA), in conjunction with the General Directorate of Education (DGE).
This year, a campaign to raise awareness of the importance of hand hygiene was prepared, associated with the World Health Organization Campaign, whose motto is “Hand hygiene: seconds that save lives”.
In addition to hand hygiene, which has increased 21% since 2009, the year when monitoring of compliance at the national level began, there are other indicators with a very positive evolution between 2019 and 2020, namely in terms of surface hygiene (3,9, 5,1%), compliance with respiratory etiquette measures (XNUMX%) or consumption of alcoholic solution. The sum of these measures contributed to reducing the consumption of antibiotics in the community.
This year, DGS and DGE focused on citizens and, in particular, children and young people, as implementers of this good practice and also as transmitters of the message in its various spheres (family, school, networks of friends), in an active way and through several generations.
This year, the motto of the WHO for 2021 was associated with the motto "We want COVID-19 to disappear, but hand hygiene remains", considering that 20 seconds are enough to prevent infections and save lives, not only associated to COVID-19, but to other communicable infections in the community.
Another important message is to emphasize that those who save lives are health professionals and all those who work or collaborate with health units, but also citizens in general, because this is a shared responsibility.
Comments