World Health Organization (WHO) has published first global guideline aimed at preventing occurrence of infections caused by use of catheters during medical procedures.
According to WHO, developing and implementing the set guidelines has been a key priority and will be very pivotal in preventing the spread of bloodstream infections.
The new WHO guidelines contain 23 recommendations for health workers and 14 practice statements consisting of instructions and training on asepsis, hand hygiene practices for healthcare professionals as well as insertion. The guideline also recommends best practices in maintenance, access and removal of catheters as well as catheter selection for patients among others.
“Infections associated with healthcare delivery represent a preventable tragedy and serious threat to quality and safety of healthcare.” said Dr. Bruce Aylwards, WHO assistant Director General for Universal Health Coverage.
About 70percent of inpatients require use of catheters at some point during their hospital stay but poor hygienic practices during insertion, maintenance as well as removal of catheters pose a high risk of infection which can lead to serious conditions such as sepsis among other fatal complications on vital body organs.
Based on estimates by WHO, the average death rate for patients with health-care-associated sepsis, was at 24.4percent between 2000-2018 and increased to 52.3percent for patients receiving treatment at intensive care units.
Globally, an estimated 1.27million deaths have been reported primarily caused by Antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections with an additional 4.95million fatalities recorded in 2019, mainly attributed to bacterial antimicrobial resistance (AMR) caused by infectious microorganisms.
“Implementing clean care and infection prevention and control recommendations is critical to saving lives and alleviating a great deal of avoidable suffering experienced by patients worldwide.” Added Dr. Bruce Aylwards.
In combating the rapid spread of such infections, WHO has dedicated to working with countries in developing and implementing best practices for health workers in a bid to reduce cases of bloodstream infections in hospitals as well as ensure quality health care for all patients.
