Recently, there has been increased awareness of the need to invest in programmes aimed at preventing infectious disease in order to reduce the burden of health spending on treating infections and containing outbreaks. For example, reducing the need for antibiotic prescribing is seen as a key factor in controlling the impact of antibiotic resistance.
These changes have been accompanied by a growing awareness of the home as a key component in the chain of infection transmission through the community, and the realisation that if infectious disease is to be contained in a sustainable manner it needs to be a shared responsibility between government and the public. Concerns about infection control have been centred largely on hospitals and institutional settings but demographic and social changes, coupled with changes in health policy, now mean that increasing numbers of people who are at increased risk of infection are cared for at home. There is also general acceptance that levels of infectious intestinal disease are unacceptably high across Europe, and that a ignificant proportion of these infections originate in the home. These factors suggest that improved standards of home hygiene and home hygiene education could significantly improve the health of the family and community.
In recent years a number of studies have investigated infection transmission and hygiene-related behaviour in the home. These studies now give us the opportunity to develop hygiene policies specifically for the domestic environment rather than relying on data from other environments. In recognition of the importance of hygiene in the home, this symposium will serve to unite the research base provided by hygiene professionals with the work of the IFH in highlighting the importance of infection control in the domestic setting.

9:30	OPENING AND INTRODUCTION OF THE IFH Professor Anna-Maija Sjöberg*, University of Helsinki, Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry, department of Agricultural Engineering and Household Technology, Finland
10:00	THE IMPORTANCE AND BENEFITS OF HYGIENE IN THE HOME - A EUROPEAN PERSPECTIVE Professor Sally Bloomfield**, International Hygiene Research and Liaison Manager, Unilever Research, UK, and Visiting Professor in Environmental Health, Kings College London, UK
10:45	AN ASSESSMENT OF INFECTIOUS DISEASE AND THE HOME IN FINLAND Professor Anna Maija Sjöberg*, University of Helsinki, Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry, Department of Agricultural Engineering and Household Technology,Finland
11:30	HYGIENE AND IMMUNITY Dr Rosalind Stanwell-Smith*, Consultant in Public Health, UK - Formerly consultant in communicable disease, PHLS Colindale,UK
12:15	Lunch
13:15	ADDRESSING CONCERNS ABOUT BIOCIDE USAGE AND ANTIMICROBIAL RESISTANCE Dr Peter Gilbert*, Reader in Pharmaceutical Microbiology, Department of Pharmacy, University of Manchester, UK
14:00	DEVELOPING A RISK ASSESSMENT / RISK REDUCTION APPROACH TO HOME HYGIENE Professor Sally Bloomfield**, International Hygiene Research and Liaison Manager, Unilever Research, UK, and Visiting Professor in Environmental Health, Kings College London, UK
14:45	ASSESSING THE BALANCE OF PROBABILITIES - ENVIRONMENTAL RISKS John Pickup*, Consultant in Scientific Affairs, UK
15:30	Discussion
16:15	SUMMARY AND CONCLUDING REMARKS Professor Anna-Maija Sjöberg*, University of Helsinki, Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry, Department of Agricultural Engineering and Household Technology, Finland
16:30	Dessert and coffee. Open discussion
	* IFH Associate Member ** IFH Advisory Board Member