Framework and toolkit for infection prevention and control in outbreak preparedness, readiness and response at the health care facility level
Background
Infectious disease outbreaks and epidemics pose a major risk to global health, security and socioeconomic stability. Health care facilities can amplify the transmission of emerging infectious diseases or multidrug- resistant organisms (MDRO) within their settings and communities. Evidence-based infection prevention and control (IPC) measures in health care facilities are critical for preventing and containing outbreaks, while still delivering safe, effective and quality health care. Investing in IPC capacity and strengthening IPC preparedness and readiness at the facility level will reduce the health care-associated transmission risk, contribute to the timely outbreak response and containment, and prevent health systems from getting overwhelmed.
The framework provides the overarching principles, as well as a systematic approach towards each management phase, while the toolkit provides links to documents that may be most useful to guide specific relevant actions. The document should be viewed as an operational manual and we have sought to prioritize practicality, relevance and ease of updates.
Objectives
To provide stakeholders at health facilities with a set of tools for preparedness, readiness and response to infectious disease and MDRO outbreaks.
- A practical framework of actions for strengthening IPC outbreak preparation, readiness and response.
- A toolkit that provides resources to assist in the development of facility-level contingency or action plans to strengthen IPC outbreak preparedness, readiness and response.
This document provides guidance and tools for decision-makers responsible for the establishment and monitoring of health care facility-level IPC programmes, including IPC focal points, epidemiologists, public health experts, or key stakeholders. This document is geared towards outbreak response incident managers and any existing facility-level IPC committee. Other users include safety and quality leads and managers, and others involved in IPC activities. The core principles and practices of IPC are common to any facility where health care is delivered, including not only acute care facilities, but also community, primary care and long-term care facilities. This toolkit is intended to support IPC improvements for outbreak management throughout the health system, both in the public and private sectors. This framework provides a stepwise approach to IPC outbreak management and the toolkit provides helpful resources. Of note, it is not designed to be an implementation guide
This document is available in the official site of WHO.
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