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Infection Control Poster

Fighting Infectious Disease
Battling the emergence of new infections and the re-emergence of old ones is a huge task global in scope. It is now possible to fly from continent to continent in a matter of hours, making an outbreak of tuberculosis in Volgograd, Russia a real threat to citizens in New York City, and vice versa. Recent years have seen the emergence of evolving strains of "old" viruses in all regions of the world. These strains are developing resistance to drugs that had previously eliminated them, creating new epidemics.

One of the potential breeding grounds for infectious disease is hospitals, where patients often transfer the viruses they are carrying to others. Discovering how these infections are perpetuated by existing hospital procedures and obtaining support for implementing infection control measures are the first steps in reducing such infections. AIHA's Infection Control Initiative works with national and local ministries of health as well as individual healthcare centers to develop local and country-wide infection control practices in the NIS and CEE. AIHA partners also help individual healthcare workers and patients learn practical techniques that can lessen the spread of infections. Among the approaches employed by AIHA partners to curb hospital-acquired infections are:

Teaching the importance of adequate hand-washing, disposable supplies, and safe waste removal;
Developing infection surveillance systems including enhancements to
hospital microbiology laboratories;
Curbing the over-prescription of antibiotics to avoid the development of
drug-resistant organisms;
Training clinicians to use WHONET, the World Health Organization's
globally linked antimicrobial surveillance network; and
Establishing Infection Control Training Centers that provide education to hospital epidemiologists and clinicians who in turn train their colleagues.

AIHA partnership successes-such as a 35 percent reduction in surgical site infections at Odessa Oblast Hospital-have proven that patient health can significantly improve with the help of infection control procedures. AIHA partners continue to provide training and support to replicate such successes.