Objective To analyze the effect of hand hygiene compliance on the incidence of ventilator-associated pneumo-nia(VAP )in children,and explore the role of hand hygiene in the prevention and control of VAP .Methods Hand hygiene compliance among HCWs in a pediatric intensive care unit (PICU)was intervened,hand hygiene compliance rate of HCWs and incidence of VAP in children with mechanical ventilation from March 1,to October 31,2012 (before intervention)and from January 1,to August 31,2013 (after intervention)were compared.Results Hand hygiene compliance rate after in-tervention was higher than before intervention(37.31%[97/260]vs 24.17% [58/240])(χ2 =10.08,P <0.01);the con-sumption of hand washing liquid and alcohol-based handrub enhanced from 3.48mL /bed day before intervention to 4.49 mL/bed day after intervention,which increasing by 29.02%.The incidence of VAP after intervention was lower than be-fore intervention (2.21‰[5/2 261]vs 6.50‰[13/2 001])(χ2 =4.67,P <0.05).Conclusion Implementation of com-prehensive measures and improvement of HCWs’hand hygiene compliance can reduce the incidence of VAP in chil-dren.