SARAYA-Sponsored Event: New York Opera Performance of Semmelweis

On December 5, 2023, an opera performance sponsored by SARAYA was held at the New York Academy of Medicine in New York, USA, and the performance was shown on YouTube. The opera, by the Brooklyn-based American Opera Project, depicts the life of the father of hand hygiene, Dr. Ignaz Semmelweis (1818–1865), with spectacular music. An obstetrician, Dr. Ignaz Semmelweis, advocated “hand hygiene” as a method of preventing infectious diseases at a time when such microorganisms as bacteria and viruses were not recognized as contributing to such diseases. However, he died without acceptance from the medical community of the time, long after which the validity of his theory was proven. Today, hand hygiene is a basic infection control measure, largely thanks to Dr. Semmelweis.

Dr. Elaine Larson of the New York Academy of Medicine further introduced the importance of public health and the impact of Dr. Semmelweis’s work on the world, and many healthcare workers and academics were deeply moved by the performance.

The full opera can be viewed on YouTube: https://youtu.be/JU_DhOSzmzo?si=x6BUEizXUrgWC-xs