Contributed by Dr. Tamhankar & Siddarth David
In a move aimed at controlling
hospital acquired infection, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare issued guidelines for healthcare institutions in India to prevent transmission of
infections. The guidelines were developed by the Indian Council of
Medical Research (ICMR), covers the basic principles of infection control, role
of health care workers, bio-waste management and elaborates on the steps to be
followed for setting up of an effective infection control in hospitals. The
norms also include measures for judicious use of antibiotic in hospitals.
This comes close to the heel of the
International Conference on Antimicrobial Resistance held by the Ministry of
Health and Family Welfare, India and the World Health Organization (WHO)
Regional Office for South Asia last week in New Delhi. The event stressed need
for all the countries in the region to adopt strategies to combat antimicrobial
resistance.
Such guidelines were needed in
India to ensure that indiscriminate use of antibiotics is not the solution for
preventing hospital-acquired infections. Once enforced, the new guidelines can play
a major role in curbing the use of antibiotic in hospitals and promoting alternate
methods to control infections.
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