Organisation and implementation of a hospital infection prevention and control protocol

Abstract

There has been a global rise in antimicrobial resistance and threats from epidemics and pandemics. These threats and the difficulties experienced while managing them have led to a global plan to improve infection prevention and control (IPC) practices, especially in the developing world, thus making them more effective. International health regulations have considered running an effective IPC programme as a critical strategy for dealing with public health threats of international concern. This review aims to survey IPC implementation practices through the global core components of IPC programmes, including monitoring, and then relate them to the practice in a hospital setting of a developing country. Global best practices on IPC from international health organizations were extracted and summarised. This information was then compared to the real-time situation in a developing country's hospital. An effective hospital IPC program is necessary to curb the devastating consequences of uncontrolled pandemics and antimicrobial resistance (AMR). However, the Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital in Nnwei, a hospital likened to that of other hospitals in developing countries, has yet to implement the core components of an organized IPC programme fully, and is thus at high risk of an outbreak.