Kingston, Jamaica, 22 October 2015 (PAHO/WHO) — The Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) is providing technical support to the Ministry of Health of Jamaica in assessing and strengthening the country’s infection prevention and control programme.
PAHO/WHO’s assistance responds to an urgent request from the Ministry of Health on Oct. 18 and follows apparent outbreaks of Klebsiella pneumoniae and Serratia marences at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at the University Hospital of the West Indies and at the Special Care Nursery at the Cornwall Regional Hospital.
PAHO/WHO mobilized a team of three experts with significant experience in infection prevention and control, who arrived in the country on Oct. 20 and 21. The specialists are working with the PAHO/WHO Representative Office in Jamaica and the Ministry of Health to assess the situation and develop recommendations.
The team’s work has five components:
1. An immediate investigation of the current situation in the two affected hospitals, including a detailed epidemiologic investigation.
2. Assessment of infection prevention and control measures in other hospitals.
3. Review of Jamaica’s current surveillance system for hospital-acquired infections.
4. On-site reviews of critical procedures, including isolation measures, hand hygiene, environmental cleaning, and laboratory diagnosis and support.
5. Assessment of the implementation status in different health facilities of recommendations already provided by the Ministry of Health.
The PAHO/WHO team is made up of experts on the prevention of healthcare-associated infections from the National Infection Control Program of the Ministry of Health of Chile, from the Children's National Health System in Washington, D.C., and from PAHO/WHO’s staff.
In addition to the current assistance, PAHO/WHO also anticipates providing near-term support towards strengthening Jamaica’s National Infection Prevention Control Plan for the Health Sector, accompanied by capacity building as needed. In the long term, PAHO/WHO will continue to support the Ministry of Health in efforts to ensure a robust Infection Prevention and Control Programme throughout the health services.
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