There are five years to go until 2030 – the end point of the sustainable development goals (SDGs). The 17 global goals were adopted by all United Nations (UN) Member States in 2015, with all countries asked to address many issues affecting the planet, including improving health.
Written by Claire Kilpatrick, Claire is a graduate of the University of Glasgow with a post-grad Diploma in infection prevention and control (IPC) and a MSc in medical sciences (travel medicine). In 2023 she was awarded a Doctor of Science for impact in the areas of IPC, water, sanitation and hygiene and patient and health worker safety by Glasgow Caledonian University. She is also a member of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons (Glasgow) and a nurse by background. She has worked in global health since 2008 and with SHIP on a variety of publications since 2016.
Goal 3 focuses on good health and well-being and it is within this goal that universal health coverage (UHC) is addressed. Goal 6 of the SDGs is to ensure the availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all – both of these being relevant to infection prevention and control (IPC).
It can, however, be challenging to articulate the precise role that IPC in healthcare plays in such a global health agenda. In 2016, Storr et al attempted to articulate the role of IPC in the SDGs in an award winning research article. They drew attention to how IPC contributes to the overall quality and safety of health care, which is an expansion of access, the ethos behind UHC. As such, it was highlighted that any UHC efforts should be accompanied by synergistic attempts to ensure that when people access care it is safe and of high quality and does not cause undue harm. The IPC global vision is that by 2030, everyone accessing or providing healthcare is safe from associated infections.
Almost 10 years on from this article, the authors decided to revisit this topic, taking the opportunity to present it and undertake an informal survey at the end of 2024.
Seventy-eight people in total responded to three questions in the informal survey, mainly IPC professionals and from a wide range of countries including the USA, Italy, UK, South Africa, Australia, Brazil, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Portugal, Bangladesh, France, Nigeria.
Summary results of the informal survey:
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In summary, therefore, IPC is important, not only to those who need to be protected from healthcare associated infections, but also to the achievement of the SDGs. Political commitment, integration and communications are paramount to success. There is, however, a need for a stronger narrative that describes IPC as a trusted and evidence-based speciality and method to future-proof health systems to meet whatever issues will affect the planet going forward. Some IPC narrative ideas have been posted here as food for thought. IPC undoubtedly provides a small part of the much-needed big solutions to get the health-related SDGs back on track.
You can Read more in a recently launched, freely available eBook, which further summarises the progress that has been made in IPC in the last decade and some of the key milestones and activities that act as an important foundations for the work to be done by all of us in the next five years – specifically focused around IPC policy, practice and research. Researchers no doubt have a role to play in envisaging a safe, high quality healthcare system for many years to come.