The Primary Health Care Corporation (PHCC) celebrates the International Infection Prevention Week (IIPW), Bearing the slogan ‘The Future is Infection Prevention: 50 Years of Infection Prevention’, which takes place October 16-22.

This year, PHCC’s IIPW campaign targets all PHCC staff and health centers patients, as well as community members to raise awareness of the importance of infection prevention, establish good infection prevention practices, encourage community and staff working at health centers to follow proper procedures and practices to prevent infection and reduce illness and deaths resulting from infection, as personal hygiene is key for preventing the spread of bacteria and viruses.

With the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™, PHCC strives for establishing strategies for proper procedures and practices to prevent infection through lectures delivering health education. At mass gatherings during such event, adhering to personal hygiene, keeping a safe distance, and wearing a face mask, are essential for infection prevention.

The healthcare providers’ responsibility towards patients is to adhere to hand hygiene to prevent spread of infection among those around them, as health care-associated infections (HCAIs) are one of the primary causes of patients’ death worldwide, which explains why infection prevention is the cornerstone of patients’ safety.

Here comes PHCC’s role to prevent infection at health centers by providing alcohol-based detergents, organizing events, and raising awareness about hand hygiene using brochures and leaflets, as contaminated hands are the main reason behind spread of infectious diseases, either by shaking hands or indirectly touching contaminated surfaces, such as door handles, escalators, shopping carts, and elevator control panels.

Hand washing with water and soap is one of the most effective and inexpensive way to prevent the spread of many kinds of pathogenic infections, such as diarrhea and pneumonia, the major cause of mortality among children. Every year, around 3.5 million children under the age of 5 years die due to diarrhea and pneumonia.

To limit the spread of infections that cause respiratory diseases, such as influenza, severe pneumonia, and COVID-19, cough and sneeze etiquette should be followed.

PHCC will join the rest of the world in the IIPW campaign on October 16-22, 2022. PHCC’s Infection Prevention and Control Department is preparing activities for PHCC staff and patients and coordinating with PHCC’s Corporate Communications Department to support this campaign by educating the public through the media and social media platforms. PHCC staff will also receive daily text messages to raise awareness among them.

Patients in health centers will be encouraged to participate in this campaign, and those participating will be given educational materials.