Hospital Acquired Infections, A Public Health Concern: Management Solutions from an Indian Experience

Hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) are nosocomially acquired infections, typically not present on admission, but manifest rapidly after hospitalization, and have recently assumed an increasingly global problem. A case study of a healthy male patient, though 93 year old is presented here to demonstrate how human lives can be lost as a result of negligence in developing nations. Though there are many clear-cut criteria for preventing hospital-acquired infections, it is still unclear how many of these are followed in majority of hospitals. There is definitely a sponsored nexus of economic growth and hospitals at the cost of human lives, specially where health care has been a major blockade in sustainable development. In order to eliminate HAIs, targeted prevention initiatives along with compliance of research-based hospital treatment modalities should be strictly implemented, under strict independent monitoring. Programmatic recording and reporting of actual hospital inspections should be strengthened, delivering genuine hospital data from district to state, and then to national levels, through a transparent public system. Use of honest hospital metrics, state of the art data collection and its correct scientific interpretation for improving the malady of HAI in our health care systems is recommended. Appointment of specifically qualified hospital managers must be made mandatory, instead of clinical doctors donning the mantle of management specialists, resulting in deficiency in services.