Momoh Umar Momoh, Benin
Some experts in the medical profession on Monday called for a proper hand-washing culture among health professionals, asserting that the use of gloves was never a substitute for hand hygiene.
The experts made the call at an event to commemorate the 2025 World Hand Hygiene Day, with the theme “It might be gloves, but it’s always hand hygiene”, at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH) in Benin City.
The medical experts include Prof Darlington Obaseki, Chief Medical Director of UBTH, Dr Tochi Okwor, Coordinator, National Infection Prevention Control (IPC) Programme, and Mrs Edith Uwugiaren of Northamptonshire Healthcare, UK.
Others are Mea Osagioduwa Oloru, Chief Environmental Health Officer of UBTH and Dr Esohe Ogboghodo, Chair, Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) Committee, UBTH.
They opined that hand washing with soap and running water remained the most effective way to prevent healthcare-associated infections.
In his opening speech, the Medical Director of UBTH, Prof. Darlington Obaseki, said while gloves provide protection, hand hygiene was fundamental in preventing the spread of infections.
According to him, “Gloves provide protection, but hand hygiene is the fundamental aspect. If you don’t wash your hands properly with soap and running water and you just go and glove up, you are still at risk to our patients and to yourself.
Obaseki asserted that provision of basic amenities such as running water, light, and consumables like soap were already standard in the hospital.
He, however , noted that leaders in healthcare systems had a responsibility to ensure minimum standards for safe treatment, including enforcement of these standards.
The chief medical director also encouraged patients and their relatives to frequently wash their hands to reduce disease transmission.
In her keynote address, Dr Tochi Okwor, Coordinator, National Infection Prevention Control (IPC) Program, posited that hand hygiene was not just a procedure, but a moral obligation and public health imperative.
Okwor, who is also the Coordinator, Nigeria Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) Coordination Committee, Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), highlighted the role of hand hygiene in health security and AMR response.
“Every opportunity to clean our hands is an opportunity to save a life. Gloves are not a substitute for clean hands and misuse can turn them from protective barriers to instruments of contamination,” she said.
She called for integrated stewardship that combines IPC, AMR containment, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), and diagnostic stewardship as the new national standard.
Also, in her lecture, Mrs Edith Uwugiaren of Northamptonshire Healthcare, UK, tackled the widespread misuse of gloves in Nigerian hospitals, particularly where gloves were used unnecessarily or across multiple patients.
“Gloves protect the wearer, not the patient. Using gloves incorrectly increases the risk of hospital-acquired infections and undermines infection control,” she said.
She likened improper glove use to “dancing without rhythm,” urging healthcare workers to match glove use to procedure type, much like dance steps match music beats.
Mea Osagioduwa Oloru, Chief Environmental Health Officer of UBTH in her lecture, educated healthcare personnel on proper disposal of used gloves to avert contamination of the environment.
In her speech, Dr. Esohe Ogboghodo, Chair, Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) Committee, UBTH, added that the hospital had made significant progress in reducing healthcare-associated infections, due to its commitment to infection prevention and control.
Esohe noted that as a flagship facility in the Orange Network, a network of healthcare facilities pursuing excellence in infection prevention and control, UBTH had implemented effective cleaning and disinfection protocols, health education, and linen management.
“These efforts have yielded positive results, with a notable decrease in healthcare-associated infections,” she stated.
