Audio tour Innovations from the past

Hand hygiene might well be the most important invention in healthcare ever. In the 19th century washing your hands was regarded as a curiosity. It was the Hungarian Ignaz Semmelweis who discovered that the use of water, a piece of soap and the correct way of washing your hands could reduce the infection rates in surgery and nursing. Even nowadays bad hand hygiene is a problem. Most infections are the result of poor adherence to the hygiene protocols. It is estimated that annually approximately 100.000 people die and 1.2 million get an infection as a result of hand hygiene issues.

Some countries use hand hygiene dances. In South-Korea doctors and nurses dance to the beat of Gangnam Style to practice the correct way to wash your hands.

In the future chips and sensors will play a role in hand hygiene. Currently companies are developing sensors that measure if hands are washed sufficiently. If a doctor comes to your bed and hasn't followed the right procedure, a red light will blink. The soap bars that will change colour after washing your hand long and well enough will see the light of day soon.