MY 5 MOMENTS FOR HAND HYGIENE Wednesday 6th May: Over 4,761 health-care facilities from 114 countries across the world celebrated “Save Lives: Clean Your Hands” to create awareness about reducing hospital acquired infections, said Dr KK Aggarwal President Heart Care Foundation of India and Director IMAAKN Sinha Institute. Hand hygiene is the primary measure to reduce health care associated  infections. The “My 5 Moments for Hand Hygiene” approach defines the key moments when health-care workers should perform hand hygiene. This evidence-based, field-tested, user-centred approach is designed to be easy to learn, logical and applicable in a wide range of settings. This approach recommends health-care workers to clean their hands before touching a patient, before clean/aseptic procedures, after body fluid exposure/risk, after touching a patient, and after touching patient surroundings. Hospital acquired infectiosn are classified as under Hospital-acquired (or nosocomial) infactions: are infections that occurs 48 hours or more after admission and did not appear to be incubating at the time of admission.  Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is a type of hospital acquired infections that develops more than 48 to 72 hours after endotracheal intubation.  Healthcare-associated infection: are infections that occurs in a non-hospitalized patient with extensive healthcare contact, as defined by one or more of the following: - Intravenous therapy, wound care, or intravenous chemotherapy within the prior 30 days - Residence in a nursing home or other long-term care facility -Hospitalization in an acute care hospital for two or more days within the prior 90 days - Attendance at a hospital or hemodialysis clinic within the prior 30 days Hand-hygiene technique 1.      When decontaminating hands with an alcohol-based hand rub, apply product to palm of one hand and rub hands together, covering all surfaces of hands and fingers, until hands are dry. 2.      When washing hands with soap and water, wet hands first with water, and rub hands together vigorously for at least 20 seconds, covering all surfaces of the hands and fingers. Rinse hands with water and dry thoroughly with a disposable towel. Use towel to turn off the faucet. 3.       Liquid, bar, leaflet or powdered forms of plain soap are acceptable when washing hands with soap and water. When bar soap is used, small bars of soap and soap racks that facilitate drainage should be used. 4.       Multiple-use cloth towels of the hanging or roll type are not recommended for use in health-care settings. (Source: CDC: Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report 2002; 51(RR-16):1]