Clean hands save lives: Driving down healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) and improving patient safety

The COVID-19 pandemic brought to the forefront the extent of the dangers that healthcare-associated infections (HAIs or HCAIs) pose. In the World Health Organization’s 2022 global report on infection prevention and control, (IPC) it was found that, on average, 7% of patients in acute healthcare facilities in high-income countries develop HAIs. The same risk is more than double in low and middle-income countries (15%). Additionally, on average, 1 in every 100 affected patients will die from their HAI.

The complexity of combating HAI is exacerbated by multi-drug resistant organisms (MDROs)/antimicrobial resistance (AMR). These are microorganisms/infections that are resistant to multiple antibiotic treatment options. It is estimated that bacterial AMR was directly responsible for 1.27 million global deaths in 2019.