CNN Central News & Network–ITDC India Epress/ITDC News Bhopal: AIIMS successfully organized a two-day virtual training session as part of the “Capacity Building and Strengthening of Hospital Infection Control to Detect and Prevent Antimicrobial Resistance in India” initiative. The event was inaugurated by AIIMS’ Executive Director, Prof. (Dr.) Ajay Singh. He stated that the goal of this training is to reduce the rates of healthcare-associated infections (HAI) in the state of Madhya Pradesh.
Discussing the increasing cases of HAIs in healthcare services, Prof. Singh highlighted that HAIs, often associated with multi-drug-resistant organisms, pose a significant challenge and result in higher mortality and morbidity rates compared to community-acquired infections. He emphasized the need to focus on prevention to effectively manage HAIs. Prof. Singh asserted that all healthcare workers, whether in primary, secondary, or tertiary care, share the responsibility of reducing HAI incidents. Simple measures like hand hygiene can significantly reduce the risk of HAIs. He also praised AIIMS’ active involvement in HAI surveillance, training, and educational activities with technical cooperation from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and other government agencies.
Prof. (Dr.) Debashish Biswas, Head of the Department of Microbiology at AIIMS, stressed the importance of HAI surveillance and the need for healthcare providers to practice basic infection control measures, particularly hand hygiene. The virtual training sessions covered important topics such as Central Line-Associated Bloodstream Infection (CLABSI), Catheter-Associated Urinary Tract Infection (CAUTI), Cesarean Section Surgical Site Infection (CS-SSI), and Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia (VAP).
Approximately 990 healthcare workers, including doctors, nurses, residents, quality assessors, and technicians from the health department of Madhya Pradesh and 53 districts of the state, participated in the program.