To achieve these goals, the Semmelweis Foundation collects membership fees, industrial sponsorships, private donations and research grants in order to finance its various activities. These are examples of its numerous activities:

• Organization of a biannual expert conference, which serves as a platform for stakeholders to exchange ideas and best practices.
• Organization of specific events, such as the 200 year anniversary symposium of Dr. Ignaz Semmelweis in 2018
• Organization of regular press conferences and press releases
• Management of the Semmelweis website, which provides information on the topics of hospital hygiene, multi-resistant pathogens and antibiotic-resistance
• Information about importance of Hand Hygiene every 5th of May
• Organization of hand hygiene events in collaboration with specific hospitals or hospital groups
• Invitation as lecturers to conferences and symposia
• Establishment of the “Semmelweis Friends Program”

Today’s multi-resistant pathogens are much more dangerous than child bed fever back at Semmelweis’ time. In November 2018 the ECDC reported 33,000 deaths directly attributed and around 150.000 deaths indirectly attributed to hospital acquired infections with multi-resistant bacteria in Europe. These are recurring numbers, so every single year we suffer from these casualties, of which a high number could be prevented with simple measures.