Actors from
academia and the public and private sectors met in Stockholm on a sunny
afternoon last week to talk about healthcare-associated infections in India and
how to combat them. The background is an initiative taken by Swedish companies
Essity, EMPE Diagnostics and Bactiguard, to take a lead position towards
combatting healthcare-associated infections in India. The first steps to "Vision
Zero on Healthcare-Associated Infections" were taken during the
delegation trip to India in February 2019, headed by Minister for Health Lena Hallengren.
Healthcare-Associated
Infections (HAIs) are an important public health problem globally. HAIs
occur worldwide and affect all countries, irrespective of their degree of
development. +50% of all HAI are caused by bacterial growth on medical devices,
such as catheters. They represent a significant burden among patients,
health-care workers and health systems - but are in many cases preventable. In India,
it is estimated that more than 2 million people are affected each year.
Cecilia Edström, recently appointed CEO of Bactiguard, introduced the seminar by saying that she is a a strong believer in the triple helix approach, where academia and public and private sectors can work towards the same goal. This initiative is an attempt to build collaborative ecosystems in healthcare across India, to capture the learning’s of Sweden and contribute towards leading the path of substantially reduced HAI in India - to reduce infections, reduce complications for patients, free up bed capacity and lower the cost of treatment.
The
pre-study that has been done was presented by Aticka Chona, consultant
at Green Karmas. The study’s purpose was to clearly understand the expectations
of the Indian authorities and healthcare industry, and to develop a structure
and engagement plan to take forward the co-operation. The pre-study has also
raised awareness and interest among various public and private care providers,
such as AIIMS, Max, Medanta, Apollo and the Healthcare Sector Skills Council.
The interest from the Indian side in the vision has been keen interest, which has
been beneficial for the founding companies.
All of the
actors said that they know which their challenges are, and what can be done –
but they need to learn HOW to do that and how others have done it. The answer
lies in Education, education, education. Swedish healthcare is well-known and
our work on infection control can be a role model. They know learn more about
pre-diagnosis, to build a digital solution based on what has been done in
Sweden but then adapted to Indian conditions and they would like continuous contact
– handholding – on how to address infections in the hospitals.
The
continuation of the project is planned in two phases. The first one will focus on
ICU challenges, and the second will be focused on general hospitals challenges.
The work will be done through a series of joint working groups between Swedish companies,
Indian hospitals and healthcare organizations on the topic of HAI.
The present
group of Swedish companies and the Indian hospitals are now ready to take the
next step, to bring global best practices, data and knowledge from Sweden to
Indian healthcare actors. By joining the Vision Zero for HAI in India, partners
can work towards the same goal and actually make a difference. This can then
serve as a basis for business opportunities for the Swedish companies – getting
access to a chain of hospital through only one entry point is a great advantage!
The
initiative is now looking for more Swedish stakeholders that want to
share their expertise and solutions, and to capitalize on the work already done
for Vision Zero for HAI in India. For more information, please contact aticka.chona[@[greenkarmas.com or anna.riby[a]Swecare.se.
