Sociology Engirdling Infection Prevention and Control (IPC)

Page: 487-490
Sukesh Trikha and Dinesh Kumar (Centre of Social Medicine and Community Health (CSMCH), Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi)

The principle of patient safety is one of Biomedicine’s values, which must be kept in mind in every patient-healthcare worker interaction. Given that there are preventable adverse events during the delivery of medical care worldwide and more so in low-resource settings, the World Health Assembly, in its 55th session in 2002, called for patient safety goals and reduced unsafe care. The practical strategy of “infection prevention and control” (IPC) either envisages the procedures enshrined under it as social, where barriers and facilitators or behaviour changes in individuals or organisational change is recommended or as elimination of microbes. Further research in social sciences, biomedicine and other disciplines is required to understand the concept fully.