6 May 2016
Each year, the World Health Organisation runs a global campaign to promote the importance of hygiene to patient safety among medical staff.’. Even the most basic of infection control practices such as regular hand washing can vastly improve the outcomes for patients in hospitals.
This year, Medical Aid for Palestinians partnered with the Palestinian Ministry of Health (MoH) in Gaza for activities at two hospitals in support of the WHO campaign. At Al Nasir paediatric hospital, MAP’s “Clean Hands and Save Lives” event included a film screening and talks for staff about the impact that hand washing can have in preventing infection and avoidable deaths among hospitalised patients. At Al Shifa hospital in Gaza City, the “Clean Hands Support Safe Surgery” event featured presentations of medical papers and discussions for medical staff on best practice in surgical infection control.
MAP currently runs two infection control projects in Gaza’s medical facilities. At Al Shifa, we are supporting efforts to improve patient safety by ensuring that surgical instruments are more effectively decontaminated, thereby reducing the rate of hospital-associated infection. The project focuses on three areas:
In our second project, MAP is seeking to ensure vulnerable newborns are protected from the risk of infection in hospitals through a partnership with neonatal units at MoH hospitals to provide equipment and disposables as well as training for neonatal support staff (including doctors, nurses and cleaners).
If you would like to support MAP’s work in Gaza, please donate today!