JHPIEGO TrainerNews™ |
Performance and Quality Improvement in
Infection Prevention Initiative in Malawi
(December 2002)
Because of the high prevalence of HIV/AIDS in Malawi, the Malawian Ministry of Health and Population (MOHP), as well as several donors including the US Agency for International Development (USAID), are extremely interested in and supportive of initiatives that can improve infection prevention (IP) practices in healthcare facilities. In response to a MOHP request, and as an outgrowth of JHPIEGO's work in Malawi to improve the quality of family planning/reproductive health (FP/RH) services through strengthening IP practices, USAID/Malawi provided funding to JHPIEGO to work with the national quality assurance task force to develop national IP standards as part of a performance and quality improvement effort. These standards are linked to a recognition system that will "reward" service delivery sites for achieving an established number of criteria, which define high quality IP practices.
Although the MOHP and JHPIEGO are in the early stages of the project, national IP standards have been developed and approved, quality improvement support teams for each of the seven pilot hospitals have been trained, baseline and follow-up assessments have been conducted and inter-hospital support visits have taken place. Improvements in IP practices have already been noted within the pilot hospitals. Hospital personnel have implemented changes (such as improvements in decontamination of medical equipment using a chlorine solution, change in traffic patterns and improved handwashing) based on the document that outlines the national infection prevention standards. An evaluation of the project is planned for mid-2003.
For more information, contact Debora Bossemeyer at repro@jhpiego.net.