Simple Solutions Save Lives
Infections that patients get while receiving care in a health facility harm hundreds of millions of people each year. Health providers themselves are at risk too. We work with ministries of health to build their countries’ ability to prevent and control these types of avoidable infections—for the sake of patients and staff.
Download our info sheetPersonal Protective Equipment Resources
Personal Protective Equipment for Healthcare Workers and Community Health Workers
Read About Our Focus During COVID-19
We promote the use of standard infection prevention and control precautions:
Hand hygiene
Because hand hygiene is the most effective way to prevent infections, Jhpiego works with everyone from health workers to ministries of health to instill the practice in communities and facilities.
Personal protective equipment
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Jhpiego collaborated with ministries of health to ensure that health workers were properly protected from infection and prepared to provide lifesaving care.
Respiratory hygiene, cough etiquette and safe injection practices
We help ministries of health develop guidelines, standards and training materials so that patients and staff will be protected from infection, whether they are receiving or giving care.
Cleaning and disinfection
As infection prevention and control guidelines have changed, we have updated our references and learning materials and worked with ministries of health to update theirs.
Processing textiles and waste management
In Ethiopia, we helped health facilities improve the safety of their surgery practice, including everything from how anesthesia is administered to how laundry is washed and waste is managed.
A Major Threat
The increase in the number of organisms that are resistant to antibiotics is a major threat to the world’s ability to treat several common infections. We advocate for antimicrobial stewardship, a coordinated program that promotes the appropriate use of antimicrobials to improve patient outcomes and reduce resistance.
How We Make an Impact
Since 1996, Jhpiego’s technical expertise has expanded to include infection prevention and control, surveillance, outbreak response—including for COVID-19 and Ebola virus disease—and strengthening health systems. These steps help address antimicrobial resistance and keep health care workers and patients safe. Jhpiego works with ministries of health to integrate infection prevention and control practices, including efforts to prevent antimicrobial resistance, into family planning and reproductive health, maternal and newborn health, cervical cancer prevention, and HIV prevention services. To do so, we:
Build capacity
Jhpiego strengthens human capacity for infection prevention and control by developing national guidelines, standards and training materials; training trainers and health workers; and tracking quality improvements.
In almost every country where we work, we supported the ministry of health to adapt to the COVID-19 pandemic by developing and/or implementing World Health Organization and national infection prevention and control guidelines and standards at the facility level, including trainings and supportive supervision for health workers.
During the 2014–2016 West Africa Ebola outbreak, we worked side by side with the governments of Liberia, Guinea and Nigeria to provide critical training and assistance to ensure that health care workers were safe on the job and prepared to provide lifesaving care. In 2022, we used this experience to support the Ministry of Health in Uganda to manage an Ebola outbreak.
Promote global leadership
Jhpiego develops national policies, guidelines, and reference and learning materials, including:
- COVID 19 technical resources
- Infection Prevention and Control: Reference Manual for Health Care Facilities with Limited Resources
- Prevention and Control of Ebola Virus Disease in Health Care Facilities with Limited Resources.
Health Care-Associated Infections Kill Far Too Many People
Help us keep health care clean and safe in the countries where we work. Infection prevention and control saves lives and has tremendous impact on a country’s ability to provide high-quality care.
