Vietnam's national action plan for prevention and control of hospital infections between 2016 and 2020 will focus on improving effectiveness at health facilities to ensure patient and staff safety.
Vietnam’s national action plan for prevention and control of hospital infections between 2016 and 2020 will focus on improving effectiveness at health facilities to ensure patient and staff safety.
The plan, issued on July 6 at a conference held in HCM City, aims to improve policies, technical processes and professional documents.
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| Patients with infectious diseases are treated at the Hanoi-based National Hospital of Tropical Diseases (Photo: VNA) |
Accordingly, more than 80 percent of hospitals in the country will have standard sterilisation units by 2020. Currently, 46.5 percent lack the units.
Software, tools and a database for a national surveillance system on control of hospital infections will be set up in 2017.
More than 50 percent of provincial-level hospitals will carry out surveillance and will quarantine patients with microorganisms that are resistant to antimicrobials.
They will report periodically to the national surveillance system in 2018.
Under the plan, more than 70 percent of hospitals in the country will keep watch on microorganisms in water, air and surface at areas with a high risk of transmission such as rooms for surgery, drip feeds and dialysis in 2018.
At least three centres on training for control of hospital infections will be established at hospitals in the northern, southern and central regions.
Dr Luong Ngoc Khue, Head of Health Examination and Treatment Department, told Vietnam News that the implementation of more and more medical techniques required an increased control of infections.
“Hospital infections occur in not only Vietnam but around the world. However, the rate of hospital infections in the country is still higher than in other countries,” Khue said.
A study conducted by the National Hospital of Tropical Diseases in 2013 among 3,671 patients at 15 intensive care units in 15 hospitals in the northern, southern and central regions showed that the rate of hospital infections was 27.3 percent.
The central-level hospitals had a higher rate of such infections.
Tran Minh Hiep, Deputy Head of Nguyen Dinh Chieu Hospital, complained that the hospital had an Infection Control Ward, but the control’s effectiveness was still low.
Because the hospital was built tens of years ago, the building and its facilities do not meet the Ministry of Health’s regulations on hospital infection control, Hiep said.
Le Van Tuan of the World Health Organisation in Vietnam said that each hospital should create a detailed plan according to its conditions and seek sources for funds to implement the plan based on the national regulations.
(Source:VNA)
