Cleanzine: your weekly cleaning and hygiene industry newsletter 18th April 2024 Issue no. 1110
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The British Cleaning Council's Press Officer, Peter Carrol, writes...
On day two of the ISSA/Interclean seminar programme, ISSA and the World Federation of Cleaning Service Contractors (WFBSC) collaborated to co-ordinate a session entitled: 'Cleaning in the 21st century: the vital importance of cleaning in healthcare'.
After a welcome by Keith Baker, ISSA director of services for Europe, keynote speaker Professor Didier Pittet was introduced to the packed conference room. Professor Pittet, programme director of the Infection Control Programme at the World Health Organisation (WHO), gave an overview of his work with the Infection Control Programme, beginning by showing the evidence supporting better hygiene practices amongst healthcare professionals. He followed by citing the progress that has been made in engineering cultural change in healthcare in the developed world and the effectiveness of hand hygiene in combating hospital acquired infections. He then noted the challenges of improving hygiene standards in the developing world, where resources are scarce and resistance towards evidence-based innovation and change is sometimes a problem.
Professor Pittet closed by outlining plans for WHO's Global Patient Safety Challenge ‘Clean Care is Safe Care' in the future, continuing the project's emphasis on global hand hygiene initiatives. Through their efforts to collaborate with scientists and farmers in the developing world, the WHO has helped reduce the cost of alcohol-based hand sanitisers by using the waste products from sugar-cane, making the product more affordable for hospitals across Africa.
A roundtable discussion followed, adjudicated by Keith Baker, featuring panellists Andrew Large, chief executive of the Cleaning & Support Services Association (CSSA) and manager of the secretariat of the WFBSC; Thea Daha, of the Dutch Working Party for Infection Prevention at Leiden University Medical Centre, and Vera Ushakova, chairman of the board of the Russian Cleaning Companies Association (RCCA). The panellists agreed that the WHO 'Clean Care is Safe Care' project was proving to be very effective and great progress had been made on gaining attention for the issue.
There was consensus from the panel when the question was put for greater engagement from the cleaning industry to ensure that the benefits continue. In agreement with a statement that came from the audience, the panel urged the industry to look at alternatives to chlorine-based products, which are both increasingly affordable and effective.
Finally, Andrew Large commended the WHO innovation and partnerships in the area of hand hygiene, and called on the cleaning industry to do the same by developing better and cheaper alternatives to current cleaning orthodoxy, to make a significant contribution in the battle against HAI’s.
Ed: Peter tells us that BCC Conference 2012 tickets are on sale now at: www.britishcleaningcouncil.org/cleaningconference.html
T: 0207 920 9640
11th May 2012