from Pittet D et al. 2000
published in Lancet 356(9238):1307-12
DOI 10.1016/s0140-6736(00)02814-2

Effectiveness of a hospital-wide programme to improve compliance with hand hygiene. Infection Control Programme

Hand hygiene as the most effective intervention for basic hygiene is of great importance for infection prevention

Overall hand hygiene compliance (HHC) before and during implementation of a hand hygiene campaign increased significantly from 47.6 % (1994) to 66.2 % (1997) and the prevalence of HAI decreased from 16.9 % (1994) to 9.9 % (1998).
Improving hand hygiene compliance (HHC) was shown to coincide with a reduction of healthcare associated infections by 41 %.