Core components for effective infection prevention and control programmes: new WHO evidence-based recommendations

Abstract

Health care-associated infections (HAI) are a major public health problem with a significant impact on morbidity, mortality and quality of life. They represent also an important economic burden to health systems worldwide. However, a large proportion of HAI are preventable through effective infection prevention and control (IPC) measures. Improvements in IPC at the national and facility level are critical for the successful containment of antimicrobial resistance and the prevention of HAI, including outbreaks of highly transmissible diseases through high quality care within the context of universal health coverage. Given the limited availability of IPC evidence-based guidance and standards, the World Health Organization (WHO) decided to prioritize the development of global recommendations on the core components of effective IPC programmes both at the national and acute health care facility level, based on systematic literature reviews and expert consensus. The aim of the guideline development process was to identify the evidence and evaluate its quality, consider patient values and preferences, resource implications, and the feasibility and acceptability of the recommendations. As a result, 11 recommendations and three good practice statements are presented here, including a summary of the supporting evidence, and form the substance of a new WHO IPC guideline.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13756-016-0149-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Examining the inclusion of patients and their family members in infection prevention and control policies and guidelines across Bangladesh, Indonesia, and South Korea

“…Although partnerships with the patient and their family in hand hygiene strategies are addressed, as well as patient empowerment programs, the ultimate purpose is to increase hand hygiene compliance among HCWs through patient empowerment. 125 This perspectives toward HCWs being the primary actors in the acute care facility is reflected throughout the guidelines from WHO, 42,46,48,49,53,54,56,58,65 CDC, 71,77 United Kingdom, 106,110,111 and Canada, 25,99,[101][102][103] and it was noted in the pilot study performed in Bangladesh prior to the implementation of the WHO hand hygiene guideline. 56 Bangladesh was one of the pilot sites for the implementation of the WHO hand hygiene guideline.…”

High nursing workload is a main associated factor of poor hand hygiene adherence in Beijing, China: An observational study

“…Many barriers affect proper hand hygiene, and the literature describes many factors for why nurses are nonadherent including high workload, lack of time, type of hospital ward, professional category, and type of care activity (Sadule‐Rios & Aguilera, ). According to WHO infection prevention and control guidelines (Storr et al, ), workload is the primary factor affecting the adherence rate of hand hygiene. High nursing workload adversely affects the quality of patient care, including augmented HAIs, higher complications, longer hospital stay, and increased mortality (Aiken et al, ; Debergh et al, ).…”

Multidrug-Resistant Gram-Negative Pneumonia and Infection in Intensive Care Unit

“…Surveillance systems contribute to the early detection of HAI and new paterns of AMR, including identifying new clusters or outbreaks. Surveillance is a key component on a local, regional, national, and even on a global scale (WHO) for determining these paterns [44]. Knowing and identifying resistance paterns can help provide guidance to practitioners by means of antibiograms.…”

“…Values above 1.0 may indicate statistically signiicant excessive antimicrobial use [44]. In addition to the CDC, many hospital regulatory agencies such as the Joint Commission and CMS will be enforcing this element as part of complying with antimicrobial stewardship program mandates [42,43].…”