TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The World Health Organization (WHO) calls on all governments, healthcare facilities, and frontline workers worldwide to strengthen hand hygiene practices.
WHO Assistant Director-General Bruce Aylward stated that the use of medical gloves does not necessarily equate to hygiene. "Medical gloves can reduce the risk of infection, but cannot replace hand hygiene," he said in a written statement on Monday, May 5, 2025, quoted from the official WHO website.
Aylward highlighted this in light of Global Hand Hygiene Day on Monday. According to him, hand hygiene needs to be maintained, especially in healthcare settings, to ensure the safety of patients and healthcare workers.
WHO revealed that two out of five healthcare facilities still lack basic hand hygiene services in care settings, endangering 3.4 billion people.
Additionally, Aylward stated that every US$1 invested in hand hygiene can yield economic benefits of up to US$24.6. Improper use of gloves not only undermines infection prevention and control practices but also significantly increases healthcare waste.
"Most of this waste can be avoided by practicing hand hygiene and using gloves only when necessary," WHO wrote.
According to WHO, gloves can be contaminated and are often misused, such as being rarely changed when switching between patients or when performing multiple procedures on the same patient. Excessive use of gloves also contributes to environmental damage.
Currently, university hospitals in developed countries produce an average of 1,634 tons of healthcare waste annually, equivalent to more than 360 African elephants. Most of the waste can be minimized if gloves are used correctly and hand hygiene is practiced effectively.
"Most used gloves are considered infectious and require high-temperature incineration or special handling, adding to the burden on already strained waste management systems," WHO stated.
WHO urges national policymakers and healthcare communities to take recommended actions to improve rational use of gloves and good hand hygiene in healthcare settings.
Actions include establishing hand hygiene compliance as a performance indicator for national healthcare systems by 2026 and aligning national efforts on hand hygiene with WHO guidelines. In addition, training healthcare workers on the proper use of gloves and focusing on reducing unnecessary glove use to minimize healthcare waste. "Prevent misuse of gloves by providing good quality and sufficient gloves," WHO wrote.
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