Nosocomial or health-facility-acquired infections are a serious issue, representing one of the most significant causes of morbidity and mortality in healthcare systems and consuming many scarce resources, especially in developing countries. Although much has been done, particularly in the hospital s...etting, to reduce the risk of these infections, the problem persists and demands innovative and cost-efficient solutions.
Although the care provided in most primary health care facilities is predominantly ambulatory with few or no inpatient beds, infection prevention is still important to minimize or eliminate the risks of facility-acquired infections and assure quality patient care.
Health facilities and hospitals should have written infection control procedures and guidelines in place and should also be monitoring that these procedures are adhered to in both inpatient and ambulatory care settings.
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As part of its 2019–2030 global strategy for the prevention and control of snakebite envenoming, WHO is launching a new Snakebite Information and Data Platform. This is the result of collaboration between the Departments of Control of Neglected Tropical Diseases (WHO/NTD) and Data Delivery for Imp...act & Analytics (WHO/DDI).
With support from the WHO GIS Centre for Health, the platform is developed with a new generation of ArcGIS software. It comprises advanced tools for managing, analyzing, and visualizing updated multi-sourced data, providing an interactive and participative user experience. It includes updated range maps of all medically important venomous snakes, other relevant information, and an integrated antivenom products database.
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The World Health Organization (WHO) and the Uganda Red Cross Society today signed an agreement to strengthen the screening of travellers at 25 points of entry in eight districts on the border between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
The support will also go towards training 22...9 frontline health workers and volunteers on infection prevention and control.
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This publication gives a broad vision of what a comprehensive approach to cervical cancer prevention and control means. In particular, it outlines the complementary strategies for comprehensive cervical cancer prevention and control, and highlights the neners. This new guide updates the 2006 edition... and includes the recent promising deve
ed for collaboration across programmes, organizations and partl-
opments in technologies and strategies that can address the gaps between the needs for and availability of services for cervical cancer prevention and control.
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This document provides interim guidance on the prevention, identification and management of health worker infection in the context of COVID-19. It is intended for occupational health departments, infection prevention and control departments or focal points, health facility administrators and public ...health authorities at both the national and facility level.
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Written by international experts in the fields of infection control and hospital epidemiology, the ISID’s Guide to Infection Control in the Healthcare Setting brings together the most up-to-date principles and interventions that can reduce the rate of infection and the impact of associated consequ...ences for patients, their families, and healthcare systems including: lengthier hospital stays; long-term disability; increased anti-microbial resistance; higher financial costs; and unnecessary deaths.
As the field of infection prevention grows in importance and the science supporting it continues to evolve, the Guide’s objectives are to facilitate the implementation of effective prevention and control measures across different resource levels to improve quality of care; minimize risk; save lives; reduce costs; and limit the use of antibiotics to fight these often preventable infections around the world.
The chapters herein are intended to facilitate the implementation of effective infection prevention and control measures across different resource levels, improve quality of care, minimize risk, save lives, and reduce costs.
To explore the Guide click on the sections below to view the chapters. Chapters have been divided into four parts
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The article "Non-communicable diseases, injuries, and mental ill-health in Africa: the role of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention" examines the role of the Africa CDC in addressing non-communicable diseases (NCDs), injuries, and mental health across the continent. It highlights ho...w Africa CDC, originally focused on communicable disease response, has expanded its mandate to include NCDs and mental health, driven by the high mortality and morbidity associated with these conditions.
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Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of global deaths, with the majority occurring in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC). The primary and secondary prevention of CVD is suboptimal throughout the world, but the evidence-practice gaps are much more pronounced in LMIC. Barriers at the... patient, health-care provider, and health system level prevent the implementation of optimal primary and secondary prevention. Identification of the particular barriers that exist in resource-constrained settings is necessary to inform effective strategies to reduce the identified evidence-practice gaps. Furthermore, targeting modifiable factors that contribute most significantly to the global burden of CVD, including tobacco use, hypertension, and secondary prevention for CVD will lead to the biggest gains in mortality reduction. We review a select number of novel, resource-efficient strategies to reduce premature mortality from CVD, including: (1) effective measures for tobacco control; (2) implementation of simplified screening and management algorithms for those with or at risk of CVD, (3) increasing the availability and affordability of simplified and cost-effective treatment regimens including combination CVD preventive drug therapy, and (4) simplified delivery of health care through task-sharing (non-physician health workers) and optimizing self-management (treatment supporters). Developing and deploying systems of care that address barriers related to the above, will lead to substantial reductions in CVD and related mortality.
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The health care environment contains a diverse population of microorganisms and can be a reservoir for potential pathogens. If environmental cleaning is not performed correctly, then environmental contamination can contribute to the spread of multidrug-resistant organisms and health care-associated ...infections. Collaboration between infection prevention and control (IPC) and environmental services (EVS) staff limits the role of the health care environment in disease transmission.
This course is also available in the following languages:
Tetun - Bahasa Indonesia
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The Strategic plan aims to ensure alignment of preparedness and readiness actions in the nine countries focusing on eight technical areas: strengthening multisectoral coordination; surveillance for early detection; laboratory diagnostic capacity; points of entry; rapid response teams; risk communica...tion, social mobilization and community engagement; case management and infection prevention and control (IPC) capacities; and, operations support and logistics. The purpose of the WHO Regional Strategic Plan is to ensure that the countries bordering the Democratic Republic of the Congo are prepared and ready to implement timely and effective risk mitigation, detection and response measures should there be any importation of EVD cases.
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Water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) are critical in the prevention and care for all of the 17 neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) scheduled for intensified control or elimination by 2020.
Provision of safe water, sanitation and hygiene is one of the five key interventions within the global NTD ...roadmap. Yet to date, the WASH component of the strategy has received little attention and the potential to link efforts on WASH and NTDs has been largely untapped.
Focused efforts on WASH are urgently needed if the global NTD roadmap targets are to be met. This is especially needed for NTDs where transmission is most closely linked to poor WASH conditions such as soil-transmitted helminthiasis, schistosomiasis, trachoma and lymphatic filariasis.
This strategy aims to mobilise WASH and NTD actors to work together towards the roadmap targets.
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Chagas disease or American trypanosomiasis is, together with geohelminths, the neglected disease that causes more loss of years of healthy life due to disability in Latin America. Chagas disease, as determined by the factors and determinants, shows that different contexts require different actions, ...preventing new cases or reducing the burden of disease. Control strategies must combine two general courses of action including prevention of transmission to prevent the occurrence of new cases (these measures are cost effective), as well as opportune diagnosis and treatment of infected individuals in order to prevent the clinical evolution of the disease and to allow them to recuperate their health. All actions should be implemented as fully as possible and with an integrated way, to maximise the impact. Chagas disease cannot be eradicated due because of the demonstrated existence of infected wild triatomines
in permanent contact with domestic cycles and it contributes to the occurrence of at least few new cases. However, it is possible to interrupt the transmission of Trypanosoma cruzi in a large territory and to eliminate Chagas disease
as a public health problem with a dramatic reduction of burden of the disease.
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The World Health Organization Regional Office for Africa (WHO AFRO), in accordance with recommendations from various WHO committees, has developed three flagship programmes to support Member States in the African region to prepare for, detect and respond to public health emergencies. They are the re...sult of extensive consultations with more than 30 African government ministers, technical actors, partners across the continent as well as regional institutions such as the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), whose contributions have shaped the priority activities. This report provides the second quarterly summary of progress in implementing the flagship programmes.
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The WHO and UNICEF-led Hand Hygiene for All Initiative aims at ensuring implementation for WHO's global recommendations on hand hygiene to prevent and control COVID-19 pandemic, and hand hygiene improvement sustainability in countries as a mainstay of wider infection prevention and control (IPC) and... water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) efforts.
But how can hand hygiene implementation be successful? By implementing strategies and approaches proven through the successes of the WHO Save Lives: Clean Your Hands campaign and fostering integration between hand hygiene and WASH improvements. This brief draws on learning from legacy work and the current evidence based and summarizes how joint action and collaboration are essential for successful strategies, in the context of the COVID-19 response and beyond
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This fact sheet is based on a systematic review of the literature on HPV and cervical cancer epidemiology, and a survey on policies and practices related to the prevention and control of cervical cancer among women living with HIV (WLHIV) to PAHO Member States. It details scorecards on the advances ...of countries against WHO recommendations and international commitments for cervical cancer prevention and control among WLHIV.
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Diabetes mellitus is a leading cause of mortality and reduced life expectancy. We aim to estimate the burden of diabetes by type, year, regions, and socioeconomic status in 195 countries and territories over the past 28 years, which provide information to achieve the goal of World Health Organizatio...n Global Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable Diseases in 2025. Data were obtained from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017. Overall, the global burden of diabetes had increased significantly since 1990. Both the trend and magnitude of diabetes related diseases burden varied substantially across regions and countries. In 2017, global incidence, prevalence, death, and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) associated with diabetes were 22.9 million, 476.0 million, 1.37 million, and 67.9 million, with a projection to 26.6 million, 570.9 million, 1.59 million, and 79.3 million in 2025, respectively. The trend of global type 2 diabetes burden was similar to that of total diabetes (including type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes), while global age-standardized rate of mortality and DALYs for type 1 diabetes declined. Globally, metabolic risks (high BMI) and behavioral factors (inappropriate diet, smoking, and low physical activity) contributed the most attributable death and DALYs of diabetes. These estimations could be useful in policy-making, priority setting, and resource allocation in diabetes prevention and treatment.
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Fully functioning water, sanitation, hygiene (WASH) and health care waste management services are a critical aspect of infection prevention and control (IPC) practices, and ensuring patient safety and quality of care. Such services are also essential for creating an environment that supports the dig...nity and human rights of all care seekers, especially mothers, newborns, children and care providers.
WASH and waste services are also critical for preventing and effectively responding to disease outbreaks. The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed gaps in these basic services (Box 1). These gaps threaten the safety of patients and caregivers, and have environmental consequences, especially as a result of large increases in plastic health care waste. In short, WASH is a critical foundation for improving quality across the health system (1).
Many facilities lack plans and budgets for WASH, which has impacts on IPC. This lack of services, and of systems to improve them, compromises the ability to provide safe and quality care, and places health care providers and those seeking care at substantial risk of infection and loss of dignity. Unhygienic health care facilities without drinking water or functional toilets are also a disincentive to seeking care and undermine staff morale – these factors can have a critical impact on controlling infectious disease outbreaks.
Climate change and its impacts on WASH and health services, gender-specific needs, and equity in service provision and management all require rigorous attention, adaptable tools and regular monitoring.
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Infographic
Disease: Infection is widespread in poor communities, 221 million people affected worldwide...
Affected Populations: Women, Children...
Prevention and Control: WHO recommends praziquantel for treatment of all forms of schistosomiasis...
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is an increasing worldwide public health problem with
important implications for the European Union (EU). When antibiotics become
ineffective, bacterial infections lead to increased morbidity, use of healthcare,
mortality and cost. Globally, estimates suggest that ...AMR leads to 700 000 deaths
per annum. For the EU, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control
(ECDC) has estimated that AMR currently causes 25 000 deaths annually and losses of
at least EUR 1.5 billion per annum in extra healthcare costs and productivity.
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This collection of posters are intended for health care workers, biomedical engineers and staff of health facilities in charge of caring, cleaning, decontaminating and sterilizing respiratory medical equipment in hospitals and health facilities. They include checklists to ensure the optimal infectio...n prevention and control during their use and between patients.
They describe the procedures to follow (Checklists) to clean, decontaminate and sterilize different respiratory devices:
Oxygen concentrators,
Non-invasive mechanical ventilation equipment: High flow nasal cannula, BiPAP/CPAP,
Mechanical ventilators,
Pulse oximeters and monitors.
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