The Hospital Infection Control Committee of the PGI organized a half day CME on “Best Practices and Quality Control on Sterilization” on 5th November 2011. The event was inaugurated by the Hon’ble Director of PGI Prof.Yogesh Chawla. The objective of organizing this CME was to educate the residents and nursing officials of the PGI about best practices and quality control in sterilization techniques in order to reduce hospital acquired infection which not only prolongs the stay of the patient, incurring heavy expenditure on costly antibiotics and even leading to death.
The platform was also used to spread the message that the hand hygiene is the single most important practice which substantially brings down the rate of hospital acquired infections in all health care set ups. Worldwide research has clearly proved time and again that hand hygiene not only saves the health care workers but also prevents transmission of infections from one patient to another since most of the pathogens travel via hands. The Chief Guest Prof.Yogesh Chawla also impressed upon the importance of hand hygiene and urged all the staff including faculty members, resident doctors and nursing officials to observe maximum compliance to the prescribed guidelines of hand hygiene and universal precautions. Appreciating the challenge taken up by the Hospital Infection Control Committee in creating awareness about the hand hygiene within the Institute Prof.Chawla also emphasized that the Committee should focus on other relevant issues pertaining to hospital acquired infections.
Prof.R.K.Sharma, Chairman, Hospital Infection Control Committee highlighted the achievements of the Committee during the past one year. As a part of ongoing celebrations several teams have been constituted which will daily visit indoor areas, OPDs, OTs, emergency and other centres of the PGI to create awareness by imparting on the spot training and practical demonstrations of correct techniques to the staff on duty as well as to the bed side attendants of the patients. A scientific session including panel discussions by the experts was also organized. The event will update the knowledge of health care workers of PGI regarding “safe practices and quality control in sterilization” alongwith reinforcing the message of “clean hands safe hands”.