Infection control

Infection control refers to all policies, procedures and activities, which aim to prevent or minimize the risk of transmission of infectious diseases. This refers to health care acquired infections (HAI) as well as to infections of public health concern, making it a crosscutting, multidisciplinary activity.

Infection prevention and control is often perceived as being limited to health care facilities and to the surveillance and control of health care associated infections. However, their scope is much wider, including among others: Patient Safety, Occupational Health, Food Safety, Biosafety, Injection Safety, Blood Safety, and Containment of Antimicrobial Resistance.

The emergence of life-threatening infections such as severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and re-emerging of other infectious diseases have highlighted the need for efficient infection control programmes in all health care settings and capacity building for health care workers prevent the transmission of pathogens within the health care setting.

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