The World Health Organization (WHO) has asked the South East Asian Region, including India, to promote the practice of good hand hygiene. The WHO says that this could help prevent sepsis, a potentially life-threatening disease that effects almost 30 million people globally, every year.

The WHO’s South Asian Region consists of Bangladesh, Bhutan, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, India, Indonesia, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Timor-Leste.

WHO Regional Director of South East Asia, Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh, said that promoting hand hygiene is the most cost-effective way of enhancing safety and quality of healthcare. The organization has suggested a 5 step method to promoting hand hygiene.

This five-step formula requires health workers to wash their hands using an alcohol-based product for 20-30 seconds, or soap and water for 40-60 seconds, before touching a patient, before clean or aseptic procedures, after exposure to bodily fluids, after touching a patient, and after touching patient's surroundings.