Towards a European Pillar of Social Rights: upgrading the EU social acquis. College of Europe Policy Brief #1.17, January 2017

Executive Summary > The European Commission has recently launched a ‘European Pillar of Social Rights’. The Pillar consists of a broad range of social principles. > The European Union’s social acquis, comprised of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, Treaty provisions, legislation and case law, already provides a floor of social rights, protecting workers’ health and safety, equal treatment and job security. > However, several lacunae in, and challenges to, the EU social acquis currently exist, relating to its scope of protection, its effective enforcement and its possible conflict with other EU rights, such as the Charter’s freedom to conduct a business. > As a contribution to the consultation on the Pillar initiative, we have reflected on how these lacunae can be addressed and the EU social acquis strengthened to enhance the ability to live up to citizens’ expectations that the Union indeed aims at the ‘well-being of its people’ (Art.3(1) TEU). > This policy brief contributes to the much-needed broad reflection on ‘social Europe’ through a focused and realistic fourfold proposal for adopting (1) a Directive for the Protection of Dependent Workers, ensuring the application of the existing EU social and labour law measures to all dependent workers (2) a Protection against Precarious Work Directive, (3) a Directive for the Enforcement of Workers Rights and (4) a Declaration safeguarding the integrity of the social acquis as an EU floor for worker protection

A systematic review to evaluate the evidence base for the World Health Organization's adopted hand hygiene technique for reducing the microbial load on the hands of healthcare workers

Background: Effective hand hygiene prevents healthcare-associated infections. This systematic review evaluates the evidence for the World Health Organization's (WHO) technique in reducing the microbial load on the hands of healthcare workers (HCWs). Methods: This study was conducted in accordance with Joanna Briggs Protocol 531. Index and free-text terms for technique, HCW, and microbial load were searched in CINAHL, Medline, Web of Science, Mednar, Proquest, and Google Scholar. Inclusion criteria were articles in English that evaluated the WHO 6-step hand hygiene technique for healthcare staff. Two reviewers independently performed quality assessment and data extraction. Results: All 7 studies found that the WHO technique reduced bacterial load on HCW hands, but the strongest evidence came from 3 randomized controlled trials, which reported conflicting evidence. One study found no difference in the effectiveness of the WHO 6-step technique compared to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's 3-step technique (P =.08); another study found the WHO 6-step technique to be more effective (P =.02); and the third study found that a modified 3-step technique was more effective than the 6-step technique (P =.021). Conclusions: This review provides evidence of the effectiveness of the WHO technique but does not identify the most effective hand hygiene technique. Questions to be addressed by further research are identified. Meanwhile, current practices should continue

Ecoregional Dominance in Spatial Distribution of Avian Influenza (H5N1) Outbreaks

Recent articles in Emerging Infectious Diseases (1,2) and elsewhere (3,4) have highlighted the role of Anatidae migration in dispersal of the H5N1 subtype of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) virus. Although these articles point out that identifying the geographic origin of migrating waterfowl is needed to understand and predict pathogen dispersal, study analyses have been limited to pathways with nominal reference to climatic and vegetation patterns that control spatiotemporal patterns of this migration

Reducing hand recontamination of healthcare workers during COVID-19

No abstract available

Why is sharing knowledge about hand hygiene and infection prevention and control still so important?

The global health care workforce is estimated to exceed 65 million [1]. Broken down by cadre, this “stock” comprises 29.1 million nurses, 12.7 million medical doctors, 3.7 million pharmacists, 2.5 million dentists, 2.2 million midwives, and 14.9 million in additional occupations, including cleaners and health care waste workers. These numbers have not accounted for external contractors. Each of these numbers represents a person requiring training and education in infection prevention and control (IPC) to support the overall safety and quality of health care delivery. Training and education is identified as one of the least performing core components of IPC programs around the world at the national and facility level [2]. In 2016, the World Health Organization (WHO) outlined evidence-based core components for IPC programs, emphasizing the importance of IPC education and training for all health and care workers. The recommendation advocates for participatory team and task-based strategies, incorporating bedside and simulation training. These measures aim to mitigate health care–associated infections and combat antimicrobial resistance [3]. A 2019 WHO global survey evaluated hand hygiene programs across 3206 health care facilities in 90 countries, using the WHO hand hygiene self-assessment framework to gauge progress. The findings showed an intermediate implementation level of overall progress, with significant disparities according to the income level of participating countries. Training and education had a weighted median score of 75 (interquartile range 45-90). Despite a large proportion of health care facilities reporting regular training, less than half made it mandatory and, similarly, only (42.8%) of the 3182 reporting facilities had a designated budget for educational initiatives [4]. The WHO links training directly to competence, specifically for IPC-competent practitioners defining this as individuals capable of applying their knowledge, skills, and abilities in professional and personal growth. For IPC practitioners, WHO core competencies also exist [5] and several countries and societies have developed their own competency and education frameworks for health and care workers, with a focus on IPC. The world continues to experience many infectious threats, including those in health care settings. Health care–associated infections continues to be among the most frequent adverse events occurring in the context of health service delivery. For instance, 136 million cases of health care–associated antibiotic resistant infections occur worldwide every year [6]. Such drivers fueled the overwhelming support for a global IPC strategy in 2023, approved by all WHO member states at the World Health Assembly. The strategy [7] was developed by involving representation from all three (global, regional, and country) levels of the WHO and the IPC Taskforce, coordinated by the WHO, with a wider voice being included from the areas of antimicrobial resistance; water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH); and patient safety. The guiding principles of this strategy lie in a person-centered approach, ensuring the protection of health and care workers and prioritizing patient safety, including compassion. The strategy and its accompanying action plan feature education and training as integral to achieving the outlined IPC “vision 2030,” with the proposed interventions stated as proven to be scalable and adaptable to local contexts. Specifically, one of the eight strategic directions focuses on health and care workers’ knowledge on IPC, as well as addressing IPC curricula targeted at different levels of competence.peer-reviewe

Enhancing innovative training and education in infection prevention and control : a call to action for World Hand Hygiene Day 2024

For the past 16 years, World Hand Hygiene Day has been celebrated on May 5. Through this annual campaign, WHO has brought the global health community together to accelerate hand hygiene action at the point of care and contribute to reducing care associated infections and achieving safer, quality health care for all. This year, the focus is to highlight the importance of promoting knowledge and building the capacity of health-care workers through innovative and impactful infection prevention and control training and education. Training and education, including hand hygiene, is one of the eight core components identified by WHO for achieving effective infection prevention and control programmes at both a national and health-care facility level. Having a national policy and curriculum to support health-care workers’ training in infection prevention and control, as well as providing this training to all front line health-care workers and cleaners (upon employment in all facilities, at a minimum, and annually in tertiary care hospitals), are minimum requirements for all countries to ensure delivery of safe care and adequate preparedness for outbreaks. Evidence supporting these recommendations was based on a systematic review that identified 15 studies showing a reduction of healthcare-associated infections and increased hand hygiene compliance following healthcare workers’ infection prevention and control or hand hygiene training.peer-reviewe