Conference 2023 Theme

CONFERENCE THEME: “3i”: INNOVATIVE INTEGRATION OF IPC IN DISEASE OUTBREAKS AND ROUTINE HEALTHCARE SERVICES.

The conference theme is based on three main aspects: innovation, integration, and IPC practices - the 3i. The conference will draw from experiences in emergency disease outbreak response and innovative IPC practices for robust, standardized, yet innovative IPC in the community and healthcare settings.

The following subthemes will address the “3i.”

 

IPC health system strengthening (HSS)

This sub-theme will cover HSS aspects, e.g., IPC training & education, the role of management/administration in strengthening IPC, commodity management in IPC, and building an infrastructure to support IPC.

  • IPC guidelines review and adoption (e.g., review during the adoption during emergencies)
  • Human resources, IPC training, and education (includes skills building and formal IPC training)
  • IPC commodity management
  • Leadership and coordination in IPC
  • IPC Programs establishment, support and sustainability -
  • Financing IPC interventions
  • Standard infrastructure for IPC and innovations in resource-limited environments
  • Health information systems landscape for IPC

 

IPC Practice: Implementation, monitoring & quality improvement

This sub-theme will include a description and analysis of implementation, behavior change, monitoring, and quality improvement aspects of all the standard IPC precautions, i.e., hand hygiene, disinfection and sterilization, healthcare waste management, and transmission-based precautions.

Expectations: For this category, abstracts are expected to demonstrate innovation in practice or the impact of new approaches in enhancing the improvement and integration of IPC practice in routine healthcare services.

  • Vaccinations for infection prevention (uptake, barriers, types – HEP-B, COVID, etc.)
  • Standard and transmission precautions for IPC
  • Management and reporting of outbreaks in healthcare facilities.
  • Community-based IPC practices (e.g., WASH programs, OneHealth interventions, including animal health)
  • Application of plan-do-study-act (PDSA) quality improvement cycle in IPC

 

Role of active IPC engagement during outbreaks, emerging and re-emerging infections

This sub-theme will incorporate IPC measures and innovations deployed in mitigating infectious and vector-borne diseases that present as outbreaks and/or emerging infections.

  • Risk communication and community engagement during disease outbreaks
  • IPC responses to to risks of infection transmission
  • Prevalence of IPC practices in the community
  • Role of IPC at the community level in the reduction of hospitalization and reduction of diseases (e.g., diarrhoeal diseases)

 

Biosafety & Biosecurity

This sub-theme will include biosafety and biosecurity, including injection safety and haemovigilance.

  • Engineering designs as part of IPC strategies (e.g., biomedical engineering practices)
  • Stakeholder engagement in protecting public health from accidental exposure to biological agents
  • IPC practices to address biosecurity concerns
  • Mitigations and responses against bioterrorism
  • One Health approaches and experiences on IPC

 

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and surveillance

This sub-theme will cover the description and analysis of implementation, behavior change, monitoring, and quality improvement of AMR surveillance and AMS policy and practice.

  • Surveys on use of antimicrobials (in health facilities and over-the counter)
  • Prevalence of AMR
  • Monitoring of AMR in healthcare settings
  • Evolving alternative strategies to control AMR

 

Healthcare Associated Infections (HAIs) surveillance and prevention

This sub-theme will cover elements of hospital-acquired infections and surveillance practices to inform changes in policy relating to IPC of HAIs.

  • New approaches and adoption of novel IPC practices to mitigate HAIs
  • Monitoring of HAIs e.g., Device-related infections i.e surgical site infections (SSI), central line bloodstream infection (CLABSI), catheter-associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI), ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) in healthcare settings
  • Monitoring occupational health infections (blood-borne pathogens like HIV, HBV and HCV, TB and other airborne and droplet transmitted infections)
  • Monitoring incidents of needle stick injuries

 

Occupational health and safety

This subtheme will cover elements of occupational health for both HCW and patient safety.

  • HCW safety
  • Health care worker vaccination
  • Needle stick injuries
  • Other occupational diseases (Tuberculosis, Hepatitis)

Prescription, Administration of drugs, medical errors, Equipment failures, Blood transfusions, Diagnostic errors, Injection safety