Is WHO suggesting that in health-care staff are no longer required to use soap and water?
No. The Guidelines promote hand hygiene compliance per se. The facts are as follows: when an alcohol-based handrub is available, it should be used as the first choice for hand hygiene (of non-soiled hands) since it enables health-care workers to optimally comply with recommended indications at the point and moment of care. However, the Guidelines and all training materials emphasize that hands need to be washed with soap and water when they are visibly dirty or when exposure to potential spore-forming organisms is strongly suspected or proven, or after using the lavatory. There will always be a need for health-care staff to clean their hands with soap and water at certain times, but for the routine and regular contacts which staff have with patients every day (corresponding to the Five Moments) alcohol-based handrubs at the point of care provide a constant safety-net. This protects patients from the multitude of microbes which can spread silently, but with devastating consequences, fro
