An infection Prevention and Management (IPC), the evidence-based method to defending sufferers and healthcare employees from avoidable infections, is universally acknowledged as one of many cornerstones of a protected and efficient well being care supply. Thorough implementation of IPC practices not solely reduces the dangers of hospital-acquired infections (HAIs), it additionally restricts the unfold of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), which is rising as a worldwide well being menace.
Following the profitable implementation of its first IPC Nationwide Motion Plan (NAP), which was developed with the help of WHO, the Ministry of Well being and Wellness (MOHW) lately initiated the event of its second NAP, an bold doc that goals to scale up the nation’s IPC actions over the following 5 years, throughout a workshop held within the final week of August 2024.
COVID-19 had the advantage of serving to to place IPC on the well being agenda in Mauritius by elevating consciousness about its significance amongst stakeholders and decision-makers. All through the pandemic, WHO Mauritius labored with the Ministry of Well being and Wellness (MOHW) to bolster the nation’s IPC capabilities, by way of varied trainings on IPC tips and requirements, common IPC assessments of the nation’s regional hospitals and key well being services, and by financing the provision of non-public protecting gear, washbasins, medical elbow faucets and, most lately, the refurbishing or development of isolation wards at Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam Nationwide Hospital, Dr AG Jeetoo Hospital, Victoria Hospital and Jawaharlal Nehru Hospital.
As Dr Dooshanveer Nuckchady, infectious illness specialist and IPC focus, explains, the scope of the second NAP shall be broader than the primary one. “We succeeded in finishing two thirds of the primary NAP on IPC which expired at first of 2024. Now we wish to proceed with the identical momentum and push ahead. Because of the circumstances, the earlier NAP was shorter (two years) and a bit COVID-centric; this time we wish to do one thing extra strong and full.”
A WHO-led evaluation was performed in 2022 and 2023 to watch the progress of the implementation of the nationwide tips on IPC. Three of the 5 regional hospitals have been scored at Intermediate Stage of IPC implementation, whereas sturdy progress was famous in IPC coaching. Nevertheless, refresher and bedside coaching classes and revolutionary coaching strategies must be thought-about for enhanced information administration and switch. An evaluation of IPC practices performed in Rodrigues revealed important enhancements in a number of areas of IPC in 2023 in comparison with the earlier yr. HAIs symbolize a significant well being burden for international locations internationally. The estimated international fee of HAIs for low- and middle-income international locations is 15%. In Mauritius, the incidence of HAIs and SSIs elevated from 4.9 and eight.2 per 100 sufferers in 1993, respectively, to 18 and 17 per 100 sufferers in 2018. The mortality fee was virtually 4 occasions increased in sufferers with HAIs and SSIs in comparison with those that didn’t endure from these infections.
“We actually wish to scale back the incidence and prevalence of these kinds of infections. First, we have to know what number of infections are occurring, in addition to the place and why they’re occurring. Then we are able to put in place bundles of care and multimodal methods to coach individuals, buy the best gear and arrange the mandatory infrastructure to scale back these infections,” says Dr Nuckchady.
HAIs additionally end in longer hospital stays, long-term disabilities, increased AMR charges and extra monetary burdens on sufferers and well being methods. To sort out points successfully, the authorities are choosing an evidence-based method underpinned by strengthened surveillance and monitoring.
Professor Babacar Ndoye, the WHO advisor who led the workshop, agrees that the IPC practices are effectively established. “I’ve been impressed by what I’ve seen in Mauritius, particularly when it comes to coaching and the deployment of assets. Globally, varied pandemics and COVID-19, specifically, have contributed to a excessive stage of consciousness round IPC.”
As an IPC nurse, Tina Soobhug’s obligations at Jawaharlal Nehru Hospital in Rose-Belle contain monitoring the nursing workers to make sure that they’re adhering to the WHO’s IPC tips. She has noticed a gradual shift in attitudes in the direction of IPC because the implementation of the primary NAP. “Though there’s nonetheless some resistance, behaviours are altering, however this requires steady on-the-job coaching and consciousness elevating which is one thing that the second NAP will concentrate on,” she notes. “Hospital infrastructure additionally must be tailored to IPC tips.”
Whereas this second Nationwide Motion Plan is being developed, work on IPC continues. In September 2024, for instance, WHO Mauritius and the MOHW performed a weeklong coaching on sterilization practices and the group of Central Sterile Companies Departments to make sure that the well being workforce is more and more outfitted to implement IPC tips in addition to the forthcoming motion plan. This coaching adopted an intensive evaluation of sterilization practices in Mauritius performed in July by a WHO professional.
Because the WR, Dr Anne Ancia, highlighted on the opening of the IPC NAP workshop, IPC is an important pre-requisite for attaining high quality well being care. With the event of its second NAP, Mauritius is setting up the best situations to stop and management infections, and to guard the well being of sufferers and well being care employees alike.