Aktion Saubere Hände is a nationwide campaign to improve hand hygiene compliance in German healthcare institutions.

It was established on January 1, 2008 by the German National Reference Center for Surveillance of Nosocomial Infections (NRZ), the Aktionsbündnis Patientensicherheit e.V. (Action Coalition for Patient Safety) (APS) and the Gesellschaft für Qualitätsmanagement in der Gesundheitsversorgung e.V. (Association for Quality Management in Healthcare), with support from the German Federal Ministry of Health.

The campaign is sponsored by German National Reference Center for Surveillance of Nosocomial Infections (NRZ) and the Aktionsbündnis Patientensicherheit e.V. (Action Coalition for Patient Safety) (APS).

Aktion Saubere Hände is based on the World Health Organization’s campaign Clean Care is Safer Care. Its goal is the improvement of patient safety. One measure towards this goal is good hand hygiene by medical personnel in health care facilities. This avoids the transmission of pathogens and the associated danger of infection.

Clean Care is Safer Care

Aktion Saubere Hände’s main topics have been adapted to various medical circumstances and divided into three modules:

In addition, the campaign provides patients and their families with information on patient safety: Patients and Relatives

Aktion Saubere Hände’s successful campaign was financed by the German Federal Ministry of Health from 2008 until 2013. A group of sponsors comprised of various organizations has been in existence since 2014. Our thanks go out to all of you.

Since 2018, the financing of Aktion Saubere Hände has been guaranteed by the member fees of participating hospitals.

The successes of the campaign thus far speak for themselves. We are determined, together with you, to continue Aktion Saubere Hände’s campaign in the future and to contribute in this way to the improvement of patient safety. We look forward to developing the campaign with you and to further developing patient welfare.

The access to some areas of our website is limited to members. For example , current materials, such as those for Hand Hygiene Day on May 5, are only available to Aktion Saubere Hände members.

This website is the most important work tool for all participating institutions and will be continually updated in a timely manner.