Kate Woodhead RGN DMS provides an overview of the latest global reports on the state of infection prevention and control (IPC). These reports reveal the considerable variability in the implementation of core components of IPC and highlight the need for significant improvement.
A new report from the World Health Organization (WHO) on the state of infection prevention and control shows that there has been slow progress in addressing critical gaps to prevent healthcare associated infections (HCAIs). As might be expected, there is a wide gap between high income countries (HICs) and low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) with patients in the latter having an up to twenty times higher risk of acquiring infections during healthcare delivery than in high income countries.
A large proportion of HCAIs can be prevented with improved IPC practices and basic water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services, which are also highly cost-effective to reduce antimicrobial resistance. WASH applies across all different levels of facilities which deliver healthcare from primary, secondary to tertiary, as well as public and private in both urban and rural areas. The report found that healthcare facilities face significant resource and financial issues including a lack of IPC professionals and budgets. Nearly one quarter of countries reported shortages of personal protective equipment.
Recent estimates indicate that 136 million antibiotic-resistant HCAIs are occurring each year. WHO emphasises that this will not reduce unless IPC improves. HCAIs already prolong hospital stays and have enormous complication rates, such as sepsis, and in some cases disability or death. Without urgent action, the number of deaths could rise significantly. The modelling suggests that IPC interventions at the point of care, co-ordinated by Ministries of Health or established networks, could avert up to 821,000 deaths per year, by 2050, and save at least US$ 112 billion.1 No country or health system, regardless of the level of development, can claim to be free of HCAIs. On average, out of every 100 patients in acute hospitals, seven patients in high income countries and fifteen patients in low- and middle-income countries will acquire at least one HCAI during their hospital stay.
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