The Ernakulam General Hospital has embarked on a hand hygiene campaign, taking it from the hospital to the community level in a new initiative as the part of Anti-Microbial Resistance (AMR) surveillance programme.
Infections in hospital (hospital-acquired infections) and community (such as diarrhoea and sepsis) may be reduced by simple measures such as good hand hygiene.
Good hand hygiene had become a practice in the hospital as part of the AMR programme being implemented, said hospital superintendent A. Anitha. “We have empowered the staff and it has become part of the hospital culture in all departments,” she added.
Taking the practice to the community-level, new mothers who come to the hospital are initiated into hand hygiene, which is simple and cost-effective and a basic infection prevention method. The practice can ensure AMR both in the hospital and the community, said P. S. Sivaprasad, nodal officer for the programme in the district.
The hospital has joined hands with Inner Wheel Club of Greater Cochin in a project named Sanjeevani, a hand hygiene campaign for one year. All staff members including doctors, house surgeons, staff nurses, and nursing assistants in maternity ward, labour room, gynaecology ward and paediatric ward could be engaged in providing training on hand washing to all new mothers in the hospital in a sustainable manner. This ensures that about 3,000 mothers (about 250 deliveries a month) a year are educated on hand washing and hygiene, who will take it forward in the community.
Analysis of infant deaths in Ernakulam district shows that 65% mortality occurs in the neonatal period, and preventable causes such as sepsis in the neonatal period may be reduced by a sustainable action plan both at the hospital and community levels.