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World Hand Hygiene Day 2025Yellow background poster with the text It might be gloves it's always hand hygiene. there are graphics snaking across the page and the World Health Orgaisation logo is in the top left corner

Every year on 5 May, the World Health Organization (WHO) runs the Save lives: Clean your hands campaign to promote the use of hand hygiene in health care facilities and beyond.

Read more about the Save Lives: Clean your hands campaign on the WHO website. 

The theme for 2025 is 'It might be gloves. It’s always hand hygiene.' 

Regardless of whether gloves are worn, hand hygiene at the right times and in the right way is still one of the most important measures to protect patients and health workers from infections. 


You can help by:  

  • promoting optimal hand hygiene practices (using the appropriate technique and according to the WHO 5 Moments) and the times for appropriate glove use within the health care workflow  
  • raising awareness of the environmental and climate impact of gloves on waste generation and management, especially when used unnecessarily.   

Resources

You can continue to promote the theme for 2025 "It might be gloves. It's always hand hygiene", using these resources.

Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care:

Glove off education resources

Resources from the Australasian College for Infection Prevention and Control:

ACIPC hand hygiene resources.

Resources from the WHO:

Video - It Might Be Gloves...But It's ALWAYS Hand Hygiene

Webinar recording: 5 May 2025 World Hand Hygiene Day 

WHO campaign posters :

Purple poster with the text Practice hand hygiene and use loves appropriately. A winding graphic crosses the middle of the page and the World Health Organisation logo is in the top left Orange background poster with the text Gloves do not replace hand hygiene. A graphic winds across the poster and the World Health Organisation logo is on the top left.

Explore the range of posters available on the WHO website.

If you have any questions please email us at hhnz@hqsc.govt.nz.

Here are some photos of healthcare facilities celebrating World Hand Hygiene Day 2025 across the motu.

A collage of people in healthcare uniforms taking part in a competition to nominate hand hygiene stars Two people standing next to a whiteboard. One person is in scrubs and the other is dressed in a costume shaped like a hand. The whiteboard has the words 'hand hygiene' written on it and is decorated with information about hand hygiene day.
A group of people posing for a photo around a stand that has been decorated with hand hygiene posters and handprint cutouts. A collage of people in scrubs making handprints with paint on a large white piece of paper.
A group of people in scrubs with their hands up in front of balloons and a poster. To the right is a dummy dressed in scrubs and disposable hygiene protective equipment. A group of people standing together behind a table that has hand hygiene posters and pamphlets and bottles of hand sanitiser on it.
Published: 21 Mar 2022 Modified: 30 May 2025