Clean Hands Save Lives

by Thierry Crouzet, Liam Donaldson (Preface), Margaret Chan (Preface)

You may not know it, but an innovation has made our world a better place. The use of alcohol-based handrubs protects us from infectious diseases and saves millions of lives each year through safer health care. Here is the story of this revolutionary formulation, made available without patent and offered as a gift to humanity by Professor Didier Pittet and his team at Hopitaux Universitaires de Geneve (HUG). From bush doctors to giant pharmaceutical corporations, everyone can now produce effective handrubs, cheaply and easily. Didier Pittet's medical odyssey has taken him to the four corners of the Earth. It also reveals a new path open to human society, one that pro- mises a radical shift from a predatory economic system to an economy of peace. "WHO is fortunate that Didier Pittet said "yes" when the call went out for his help. [...] Much can be learned from the story that is told so well and so inspirationally in this book." Dr. Margaret Chan, Director-General, World Health Organization.

168 pages, Paperback

First published April 16, 2014

About the author

Ancien journaliste, auteur chez Fayard de J'ai débranché (2012), le récit d'un burn-out numérique, Thierry Crouzet a été l'un des premiers internautes français. Il a publié près d'une trentaine de guides de vulgarisation, vendus à plus de 300000 exemplaires. Depuis la sortie du Peuple des connecteurs (2006), il décrypte sur son blog l'influence politique et littéraire des nouvelles technologies. Dans La quatrième théorie (2013), un James Bond oulipien, il met en scène ses idées à coups de tweets.