CANADA: OAHPP promotes handwashing

02.oct.09
from a press release

TORONTO -- As an organization dedicated to the health of Ontarians, the
Ontario Agency for Health Protection and Promotion (OAHPP) strongly
supports and promotes the practice of hand hygiene as one of the best
public health precautions available for controlling the spread of
respiratory infections.
An article in the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ) published
on October 1, 2009, titled "Conflict emerges over value of handwashing
as a preventive flu transmission measure" provides misleading
information to the public about the effectiveness of hand hygiene. The
article cites a report prepared by a multidisciplinary panel for the
Council of Canadian Academies. The panel was chaired by Dr. Don Low with
a mandate to:
a) Review and identify the transmission of flu based on existing reviews
and original literature
b) Assess the effectiveness of N95 respirators or surgical masks in the
prevention of flu transmission among health-care workers
The report found that hand hygiene, which is a major mode of
interrupting contact transmission, is a central component of essentially
all influenza control protocols for both seasonal and pandemic disease.
There are many studies showing that handwashing is an effective means of
interrupting or reducing the spread of viral respiratory infections. Dr.
Vivek Goel, President and CEO of OAHPP states, "Countries around the
world promote hand hygiene as a cost-effective and easy method of
controlling infection that can be followed by all ages."
The expert panel did note that there were no randomized control trials
that specifically addressed the ability to control the spread of
influenza through hand hygiene. However, this on its own does not lead
to the CMAJ's suggestion that there is no evidence for the promotion of
hand hygiene as a control measure for influenza.
Dr. Goel notes that OAHPP supports both the provincial and national
public health campaigns aimed at flu prevention and protection.
For more information please visit:
Public Health Agency of Canada: 
http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/alert-alerte/h1n1/index-eng.php
Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care:
http://www.health.gov.on.ca/en/ccom/flu/h1n1/public/prevention.aspx