Monrovia, 8 March - The three West African countries most affected by the recent Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) outbreak have made significant achievements on infection prevention and control (IPC) and Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) implementation. Infection prevention is one of the major factors in EVD prevention and control and is a key indicator monitored under the International Health Regulations (IHR-2005).

These achievements were highlighted during the recent review and experience sharing meeting held in Monrovia from 17th to 19th February, supported by the World Health Organization (headquarters, regional and country) in collaboration with the Japanese government.

Guinea has developed a data collection system for WASH activities, established a communication platform for information sharing of IPC and WASH activities, constructed 12 durable and 42 semi-durable triage units in health care facilities, and has an IPC training curriculum for medical schools and other health institutions.

Sierra Leone has developed and rolled out a national IPC policy and guidelines, trained health workers, midlevel managers and traditional healers in IPC and established IPC management structures at all levels.

Similarly, Liberia has successfully launched the Quality Management Unit and integrated quality across all domains of care, including IPC. Additionally, capacity of counties in IPC and WASH has been developed through training and mentorship of front-line health workers. Also efforts are currently ongoing to integrate IPC supplies into routine health system supply chain.

Dr Francis Kateh, the Liberian Deputy Minister of Health Services and Chief Medical Officer who represented the Minister of Health, urged delegates to critically consider how IPC aligns within their respective country’s context as well as the long term sustainability of IPC practices. This, he said will ensure safe and quality service delivery that grants patients and health workers’ protection.

The meeting objectives included: update on country IPC and WASH implementation status; validation of common core regional IPC/WASH indicators; establishing a mechanism for information sharing across the region; and identifying strategies to inform a mentorship package to address barriers to health workers behavior change.

Delegates included representatives from MOH, Centers for Disease control and Prevention (CDC), WHO and other key IPC and WASH partners from the three countries: Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

Despite the remarkable achievements, all the three countries are faced with similar challenges. For instance there is inadequate funding allocated for IPC and WASH activities, inadequate and unreliable WASH infrastructure at health facilities, and poor adoption of IPC practices among some health care workers despite repeated trainings and access to IPC resources and equipment.

Key meeting recommendations were:

Utilization of the validated and approved IPC and WASH indicators;
Monitoring progress at the national level; inclusion of 3-5 priority indicators in the Health Management Information System (HMIS);
Establishing an Information Technology system for country data collection, analysis and information sharing; and
Establishing sustainable IPC and WASH mentorship programs integrated in quality improvement and clinical mentorship programs.
_____________________________________

For more information please contact:

Technical contact:  Dr April Baller,  ballera [at] who.int ( ballera[at]who[dot]int )

Communication: Luwaga Liliane, emailluwagal [at] who.int ( luwagal[at]who[dot]int)