Review: Redefining infection prevention and control in the new era of quality universal health coverage

What is it about?

This paper is a commentary on the paper: Redefining infection prevention and control in the new era of quality universal health coverage (Storr, et al. 2016). Whilst Storr and colleagues assert that actors need to respond to the needs of infection prevention and control (IPC), this paper asserts that we know what needs to be done to improve IPC – the challenge lies not in what to implement but how to navigate the complexity of health systems to make IPC effective. The paper points to some examples of effective IPC implementation in low resource countries, including those affected by Ebola in West Africa. It also challenges the idea that there are nascent economic plans for IPC and gives examples of sophisticated economic commitments and campaigns advocating for more resources.

Featured Image

Why is it important?

The paper argues that strategies and plans need to be implemented by nurses as part of a multi-disciplinary team. Importantly, plans and strategies need to be contextualised and pragmatic to make them accessible to health providers and that concepts need to be clearly defined to avoid misinterpretation.