Hope Lay in His Washed Hands

The Microbiology, Public Health & History film festival at Hood College celebrates Global Handwashing Day with a screening of "Semmelweis", a 2001 short film directed by Jim Berry. This film dramatizes the story of Ignaz Semmelweis, the Hungarian doctor who was the first to institute handwashing in a healthcare setting in an effort to control childbed fever. This infectious disease used to kill up to one in five mothers after childbirth and one in fifteen newborns. Despite this terrible toll, many of Semmelweis's peers were willing to accept childbed fever as the price that God exacted on women for the gift of bringing new life into this world. A panel discussion will follow the film with experts including Dr. Charles Gerba of University of Arizona. We will explore how handwashing helps keep us healthy and why it remains one of the most effective public health interventions for protecting our families and communities. Additionally, we will ask why handwashing remains challenging to implement in local as well as global settings. / / This event will also be broadcast on Zoom. Admission: Free, RSVP.