Infection Prevention

This training curriculum is a guide to assist trainers in improving health care by training health professionals in: interpersonal communication in information, education, and counseling; referral and follow up processes; and infection prevention and control practices. Materials in this document are designed for training service providers who work at a variety of health facilities in Iraq. The curriculum can be used to train health professionals including physicians, nurses, midwives and other health workers in group training or, with adaptation, as a basis for individualized or self-directed learning. [author’s description]

These revised and expanded guidelines aim to help [national nursing associations], nursing and midwifery personnel, nurse managers, employers and others to address the educational needs and ethical responsibilities of nursing and midwifery personnel in reducing transmission of HIV/AIDS, HBV, HCV and tuberculosis; develop strategies for a safer work environment and increased protection for nursing and midwifery personnel; and address the socioeconomic welfare issues related to the health care needs, compensation and financial security of HIV-positive nursing and midwifery personnel.

The response to AIDS depends largely on people who are themselves getting sick and dying. This is why there is now a need for more targeted interventions to support these health workers, enable them to deliver good care and keep them in their positions. [author’s description]

AIDS-related stigma and discrimination is a pervasive problem worldwide. People living with HIV/AIDS (PLHA) in India, as elsewhere, face stigma and discrimination in a variety of contexts, including the household, community, workplace, and health care setting. Research in India has shown that stigma and discrimination against HIV-positive people and those perceived to be infected are common in hospitals and act as barriers to seeking and receiving critical treatment and care services (UNAIDS 2001). Recognizing the need to move beyond documentation of the problem, three New Delhi hospitals; SHARAN, an Indian NGO; and the Horizons Program, with support from the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO), carried out an operations research project to develop and test responses to hospital-based stigma and discrimination against people living with HIV/AIDS.

A key purpose of the manual is to enable hospital administrators, clinic managers and healthcare professionals working in limited resource settings to develop their own uniform infection prevention policies and service delivery guidelines. It is recognized, however, that the strategies, priorities and proven methods of infection risk reduction described in this manual will need to be adapted to reflect the existing conditions in each country. Only through this process can much needed changes be implemented and patient care in hospitals and clinics improved. [from preface]

The Malawi Ministry of Health and Population (MOHP) sought the assistance of JHPIEGO to implement a performance and quality improvement (PQI) initiative in infection prevention (IP), as one intervention in response to concerns of healthcare workers and potential healthcare workers regarding the existing risks of exposure to infection with major communicable diseases, especially HIV/AIDS, at the country’s hospitals and other health facilities.

The safety of heath care workers (HCWs) who take care of people with HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases is of paramount importance. Occupational transmission of blood borne infections is not regarded as a common problem in developed country settings, but this is not the case in resource poor countries where the incidence and impact of such exposures is under-reported and is now becoming appreciated as an important risk factor for HCWs.

Zambian nurses have been greatly affected by the rise in the morbidity and mortality of nurses with TB. This article explains the impact of TB on the Zambian nursing workforce. Review of Zambian government programmes designed to address this health crisis and targeted interventions to reduce TB among nurses are offered. [abstract]

The ILO and the WHO decided to join forces in order to assist health services in building their capacities to provide their workers with a safe, healthy and decent working environment, as the most effective way both to reduce transmission of HIV and other blood-borne pathogens and to improve the delivery of care to patients.