Clean Hands save lives

[Adrian Essex]

I've been up to the Whittington a few times lately and this sign ""Clean Hands save lives"  is writ large evereywhere. And it's not true. Dirty hands spread disease is true. Cleanliness and hygiene go together, and good health follows. But clean hands do not save lives. Defibrillators save lives, antibiotics save lives, scalpels skilfully wielded save lives. But Clean hands do not.
And anyway all they are trying to do is to get you to wipe alcohol gel on your hands after which your hands may be sterile, but no cleaner than they were before. If you've been to the lavatory, not washed yours hands and emerged with traces of non-sterile waste products onthem,  even after an alcohol rub you still you don't have clean hands just dirty but sterile.

Big Brother is trying to pull the wool over our eyes.

[Caroline Essex]

I disagree! If dirty hands spread germs leading to diseases such as MRSA, which do kill people, surely clean/sterile hands that do away with these germs do in fact help to save lives. The message, on your analysis, isn't entirely inaccurate, but it is well condensed for a pithy poster.

"If you sterilise your hands before you enter this ward then there is less chance of you spreading germs that may potentially be fatal to one of the already sick people in here" just isn't the sort of message that advertising campaigns are made of.

[Adrian Essex]

Wrong, wrong , wrong. You've been takenin by their doublespeak. Ads should be honest and accurate. This one isn't as well meaing as it might.
The BBC weather forecast thismorning referred to "treacherous roads" - perhaps they'r planning a rebellion - defecting to neighbouring local authority perhaps!

[Caroline Essex]

Main Entry: treacherous
Part of Speech: adjective
Definition: dangerous
Synonyms: alarming, chancy, deceptive, difficult, dissembled, faulty, hazardous, insecure, jeopardous, menacing, misleading, ominous, perilous, precarious, risky, shaky, slippery, ticklish, tricky, undependable, unhealthy, unreliable, unsafe, unsound, unstable, wicked
Antonyms: harmless, untreacherous

[Adrian Essex]

I consider myself completely vindicated. The health protection Agency says "hand gels cannot remove contamination in the way that soap and water can, but may provide extra benefit after washing." This poster campaign is nothing more nor less than misinformation couched in the most emotive and unreasonable terms.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-13127569