Health and Community Services
May 5, 2014
The following statement was given today in the House of Assembly by the Honourable Paul Davis, Minister of Health and Community Services:
Provincial Government Recognizes STOP! Clean Your Hands Day
Mr. Speaker, today is STOP! Clean Your Hands Day, a national event that
coincides with a global initiative of the World Health Organization called
Save Lives: Clean Your Hands.
The focus of today is to bring greater
awareness to the importance of washing our hands as a way of preventing
disease by controlling the spread of germs.
The simple task of
washing your hands with soap and water or an alcohol-based rub can have a
significant impact on your health and on the health of everyone you come in
contact with.
For our health care workers, hand hygiene remains the
primary means of reducing health care associated infections.
Mr.
Speaker, we have placed an emphasis on hand hygiene and we have provided the
necessary resources to ensure that patients are protected.
While
there is always room for improvement, the number of health care associated
infections has declined in Newfoundland and Labrador since 2009.
As
a result of our monitoring and prevention policies, including education and
surveillance, we have among the lowest rates of C-difficile infection in
Canada and have seen a significant decline in the Staphylococcus infection
known as MRSA over the last number of years.
Mr. Speaker, while we
will continue to work on improving health prevention initiatives within our
health care system, I want to strongly encourage all residents to make a
habit of regular hand washing. This simple, yet effective action can help
prevent the spread of illness such as influenza, norovirus, and many more
serious communicable diseases.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
2014 05 05 2:25 p.m.