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.

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Personal Protective Equipment Resources

 

Personal Protective Equipment for Healthcare Workers and Community Health Workers

PPE for Health Care Workers

Read About Our Focus During COVID-19


We promote the use of standard infection prevention and control precautions:

Women washing hands.

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.

Health worker putting on a mask.

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.

Two women standing near an industrial size washing machine.

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.

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.

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