ObjectiveTo realize the effect of WHO multimodal hand hygiene improvement strategy  (MHHIS) on improving hand hygiene compliance of health care workers(HCWs). MethodsFrom June to December 2012, HCWs in a hospital was intervened by adopting MHHIS, hand hygiene compliance rate before and after intervention was compared, and effectiveness of intervention was assessed. ResultsHand hygiene compliance of doctors and nurses improved from 14.06%（35/249） and 28.62%（81/283） before intervention  to 31.73%（79/249） and 57.60%（163/283）after intervention respectively（both P＜0.05）. Except outpatient and emergency department, hand hygiene compliance of the other departments significantly improved (all P<0.05); hand hygiene compliance of various hand hygiene indicators significantly improved except ‘after contact with patient surrounding’ (all P<0.05), the differences were statistically different (P＜0.05).ConclusionUsing WHO MHHIS can effectively improve hand hygiene compliance of HCWs.