NEW DELHI: India does not maintain a centralised national database capturing institution-wise data on all hospital-acquired infections, Union Health Minister JP Nadda said Tuesday.
In a statement in the Rajya Sabha, the minister said, “Government has instituted mechanisms for surveillance of healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) through various national programmes and institutions. However, a centralized national database capturing institution-wise data on all HAIs across the country is not maintained,” he said.
The minister said that HAI surveillance is undertaken in designated institutions through established surveillance systems, led by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) Antimicrobial Resistance Research and Surveillance Network (AMRSN), Jai Prakash Narayan Apex Trauma Centre (JPNAC), AIIMS, Delhi, and, the National Centre for Disease Control and infection surveillance mechanisms implemented by identified healthcare facilities.
The HAI surveillance data from ICMR and JPNAC network is published every year by ICMR in its annual report.
He said the ministry has strengthened Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) measures to prevent HAIs, reduce Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) and improve patient safety through the National Guidelines for IPC in Healthcare Facilities, National Action Plan on AMR, National Quality Assurance Standards and Kayakalp initiative.
Nadda also said that the government has issued guidelines for Surveillance and Reporting of HAI, including standard precautions, transmission-based precautions, biomedical waste management, environmental cleaning, hand hygiene and healthcare worker safety.
According to the WHO, HAIs are often difficult to treat, and are the major driver of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and cause premature deaths and disability.
