New analysis from Frost & Sullivan’s Hand Hygiene Market in Western Europe research finds the market earned revenue of $415.4 million in 2013 and estimates this to reach $680.8 million in 2019. The research covers hand wash, hand disinfectant and surgical hand antisepsis products across the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Benelux and Scandinavia.
“Adoption of hand hygiene compliance monitoring (HHCM) devices in hospitals across Western Europe is improving compliance levels considerably, thereby fuelling market revenues,” says Frost & Sullivan Healthcare Research Analyst Parthasarathy Raghava. “The market will see a host of opportunities as automatic HHCM technology is integrated with most automated and manual dispensers to become a standard across all hospitals in the next five to seven years.”
Government initiatives also help boost the market. These include the launch of the World Health Organisation’s “Clean Care is Safer Care” program that focuses on HAI prevention and patient safety through the practice of hand hygiene techniques as well as the effective disinfection of the hospital environment. Various national awareness programmes and campaigns further improve hand hygiene compliance by reinforcing patients’ right to enquire and insist on hand hygiene in healthcare settings.
However, market potential varies across the countries in Western Europe. Inadequate awareness, education, and training on the significance of hand hygiene, along with the lack of standard regulations for hand hygiene in the healthcare sector are proving to be market restraints.