International collaboration to protect health workers from infectious diseases in Ecuador Colaboración internacional para proteger al personal sanitario de las enfermedades infecciosas en Ecuador

• Main Authors: Marie-Claude Lavoie, Annalee Yassi, Elizabeth Bryce, Ronaldo Fujii, Milton Logronio, Maritza Tennassee
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English; Spanish; Portuguese
• Published: Pan American Health Organization 2010
• Subjects: control de infecciones; servicios de salud del trabajador; prestación de atención de salud; hospitales; Ecuador; infection control; occupational health services; delivery of health care; hospitals; Medicine; R; Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine; RC955-962; Public aspects of medicine; RA1-1270; Arctic
• Online Access: https://doaj.org/article/1bdd0ce8a9e74cf581c5ef9f2308bae6

The Healthy Hospital Project, an international collaboration, aimed to strengthen Ecuador's capacity to promote healthier and safer hospitals by reducing occupational transmission of infectious diseases. Team members conducted a needs assessment to identify workplace hazards and health risks in three hospitals. A survey of health care workers' knowledge and practices of occupational health (OH) and infection control (IC) revealed positive practices such as a medical waste disposal program and widespread dissemination of health information. Challenges identified included a high frequency of recapping needles and limited resources for workers to apply consistent IC measures. The survey revealed underreporting of needlestick injuries and limited OH and safety (OHS) training. Therefore, project collaborators organized a training workshop for health care workers that aimed to overcome the identified obstacles by integrating interdisciplinary local, national, and international stakeholders to build capacity and institutionalize work-related infection prevention and control measures. The knowledge transferred and experience gained led to useful hospital-based projects and serves as a basis for implementation of other OHS projects nationwide. International interdisciplinary, interinstitutional collaboration in OHS and IC can build capacity to address OHS concerns in health care. El objetivo del Proyecto Hospitales Saludables, resultado de una colaboración internacional, fue fortalecer la capacidad del Ecuador de promover hospitales más saludables y seguros al reducirse la transmisión ocupacional de las enfermedades infecciosas. Los miembros del equipo realizaron una evaluación en tres hospitales para detectar los peligros y los riesgos para la salud en el lugar de trabajo. Tras llevar a cabo una encuesta de conocimientos y prácticas de los trabajadores sanitarios en lo que se refiere a salud ocupacional y control de infecciones, se encontraron aspectos positivos, como un programa de eliminación de desechos médicos y la ...