Moreover, the health minister pointed out that hospital-acquired infections not only bring additional medical cost to the patients but also prolong the length of stay and increase patient mortality; accordingly, it is also cause of patient overload.
According to a survey of 558 hospitals carried out in 2019, 46 percent of Anesthesiology units use properly sterilized or disinfected medical equipment and 11 percent of departments don’t’ follow hygiene practices.
Worse, relatives stay in the room to look after patients in intensive care units (accounting for 30 percent)
Ms. Tien worried because of high hospital-associated infections. Additionally, hospital managers have not been fully aware of significance of the problem; hence, controlling of hospital-associated infections is not effective. Hand washing should be the cornerstone of reducing hospital-associated infections.
According to the World Health Organization, hospital-associated infections makes up 5 percent in developed countries while it is from 5.7 percent to 19.1 percent in middle-low and low income countries.
The conference was organized by the Ministry of Health and the World Health Organization yesterday in Hanoi.
