Hanoi (VNA) - Hospital infection control is a majorconcern for health care providers and patients all over the world. Preventingsuch infections is a critical aspect of improving hospital safety, heard a recentconference in Hanoi.

Addressing a conference on strengthening infection control inhealthcare facilities, Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Viet Tien said hospitalinfections are an especially significant burden for patients in under-developedand developing countries. Hospital infections contribute to an increase infatalities, treatment time, usage of antibiotics and cost of treatment.

Statistics from the World Health Organisation (WHO) revealedthat the rate of hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) ranges between 3.5 percentand 12 percent in developed countries. For European countries, the rate is 7.1percent on average, causing about 7 billion EUR (8.6 billion USD) in lossesincluding the costs for treatment and hospital fees.

No specific data about HAIs in developing and under-developedcountries was available, but recent studies conducted by WHO showed that HAIsoccur more frequently at these countries due to limited resources.

Recognising the important role of hospital infection controlin providing successful treatment to patients, Tien said the health sector hadadopted measures to tighten infection control at health care facilities,including the issuance of regulations and professional supervision on the issue.

As a result, most hospitals and health clinics startedmobilising sources for infection control activities, he said.

The infection control programme had been implemented athealthcare facilities nationwide. Hand hygiene was undisputedly the single mosteffective control measure for hospital-acquired infections.

However, he admitted that there were several challenges toinfection control in Vietnam. The infection control system at healthcarefacilities remained incomplete.

Figures from the ministry showed that 16.2 percent ofhospitals nationwide failed to establish an infection control department and26.3 percent failed to assign a head of the department to implement infectioncontrol tasks.

Moreover, most health staff at the departments did notreceive training, and departments also faced staff shortages. Many hospitalspaid inadequate attention to investing in infection control practices as wellas equipment so the efficiency of the work was still limited.

Tien said poor infection control contributed to a measlesoutbreak in April 2014, killing more than 110 children and hospitalisingthousands nationwide. It also played a role in the deaths of four pre-term andlow birth weight infants at Bac Ninh Hospital of Obstetrics and Pediatrics inNovember 2017.

To improve the situation, Luong Ngoc Khue, Director of theMinistry of Health’s Medical Examination and Treatment Management Department,said infection control work should be tightened to minimise HAI contraction athospitals, ensuring the safety of health workers and patients, given theprevalence of such diseases as Avian Influenza (H5N1, H1N1 and H7N9), MiddleEast Respiratory Syndrome of Corona virus (MERS-CoV) and Ebola.

The health sector would be expected to organise trainingcourses for health staff on infection control and allocate funds for medicalequipment to implement infection control practices, he said.

Dissemination campaigns should be adopted to raise awarenessamong patients and their relatives to improve infection control.-VNA