The results from South Africa’s Infection Prevention Control Study are out!
Between January to April 2022, Epicentre partnered with the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, to study:
The disruptions in health care service delivery in South Africa due to infection prevention and control limitations in the context of COVID-19
What Did Our Research Find Out?
Most health care facilities reported disruptions to health care services. 97% of these disruptions were caused by infection prevention control (IPC).
Infection Prevention Control:
✔ Disinfection & environmental cleaning
✔ Monitoring staff IPC adherence
✔ Injection safety
Behind The Scenes On This Study
The Epicentre IPC team is worked with hospitals to get information on essential health service disruptions during the COVID-19 pandemic.
This research built on a recent study called ‘the IPC pilot study’, which was done by, the Elizabeth Glaser Paediatric AIDS Foundation (EGPAF) in Kenya and Cameroon. The Epicentre IPC team is working with hospitals to get information on essential health service disruptions during the COVID-19 pandemic.
What Did This Study Focused On?
This study looked deeply into how infection prevention and control measures (like PPE, extensive cleaning & sterilization, etc) contributed to service disruptions, and what the impact was on these services for patients.
How Did We Do This?
The Epicentre IPC team in Gauteng and KZN made appointments to interview hospital staff. We interviewed the people in charge of the hospitals, in some cases this was the CEO, the deputy matron, or the director of the hospital.
Interviews were also scheduled with the pharmacy manager and the Infection Prevention Control Officer.
Why Were Gauteng and KZN Chosen For Study?
These provinces were selected in collaboration by EGPAF, CDC and Epicentre. The criteria used to select these provinces included the prevalence of COVID-19, healthcare infrastructure and the location of Epicentre’s offices, which are in Durban and Johannesburg.
Why Are The Results Of This Study Important?
This study’s results are critical to finding out what the gaps are in how we are currently preventing COVID infections in our country’s hospitals.
Our healthcare system can use this information to help South Africa develop more effective IPC protocols (rules), training guides and priority interventions to both support the healthcare response to COVID-19 and be better prepared for future pandemics.
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