Editor's Note: The 20th Shanghai International Forum for Infection Control (SIFIC), in conjunction with the 8th Oriental Forum on Challenging Infectious Diseases (OFCID) and the Academic Corference of Global Chinese Association of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases , were held at the Shanghai International Convention Center from July 25-27, 2024. At this academic event, Dr. Xiaodong Gao from Zhongshan Hospital delivered an in-depth lecture on key topics such as hospital infection assessment, infection control management, hand hygiene practices, and the WHO Global Action Plan on Infection Prevention and Control. In an interview with Infectious Diseases Frontier, Dr. Gao not only reviewed the founding vision of SIFIC but also provided an in-depth analysis of strategies for infection prevention and control (IPC), the details of hand hygiene management, and how multidisciplinary collaboration can strengthen infection control efforts.1. Infectious Diseases Frontier: SIFIC is now in its 20th year. As one of the founders of SIFIC, could you share your journey over the past two decades and highlight the key features of this year’s conference?
Dr. Xiaodong Gao: SIFIC has come a long way since its establishment in 2005. Professor Bijie Hu once expressed his vision at the 6th SIFIC conference held in Nanjing in 2010—“I have a dream”—which was to truly develop and expand China’s infection control efforts. His goal was to move beyond the traditional approaches of case monitoring, hand hygiene practices, and environmental sampling to push infection control towards precision, ensuring that it truly serves the patients. This was also the original intent behind the creation of SIFIC.
This year’s SIFIC conference attracted over 4,000 participants, bringing together top experts from various fields, including infection control, clinical microbiology, clinical pharmacy, and other related disciplines. It provided an excellent platform for multidisciplinary communication and collaboration. Moreover, this year’s conference was supported and participated in by several associations, including the Tuberculosis Infection Control Committee of the Chinese Medical Association, and was held in conjunction with the Global Chinese Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases Academic Annual Conference. This not only reflects the idea of multi-team collaboration and joint development within the infection control field but also underscores our commitment to realizing the conference theme of “precision diagnosis and precision prevention.”
2. Infectious Diseases Frontier: You discussed the “WHO Global Action Plan on Infection Prevention and Control 2024-2030 and Monitoring Framework” at this conference. What does this draft indicate about the global IPC landscape, and what challenges does China face in implementing the IPC action plan?
Dr. Xiaodong Gao: This is a broad topic. In the opening ceremony, Dr. Qiang Fu delved into the latest developments at the international level by the World Health Organization (WHO), particularly emphasizing the importance of infection prevention and control (IPC) and antimicrobial resistance (AMR). The successful implementation of IPC relies heavily on comprehensive capacity building, which is fully reflected in the draft, including specific training plans for personnel at various levels and clear requirements for their skill enhancement.
Crucially, the WHO emphasizes that national governments must increase support and financial investment in infection control. This is a core point stressed by the WHO—governmental commitment is fundamental to ensuring effective execution of IPC measures. The draft outlines eight core strategic directions, covering a wide range of content. However, the main goal is to encourage all levels—national, governmental, and healthcare institutions—to prioritize infection control, increase investment, and enhance policy support to ensure that infection control efforts are effectively implemented.
3. Infectious Diseases Frontier: Hand hygiene remains a key component of the WHO IPC action plan. You also presented a report on “Key Points of Hand Hygiene in High-Risk Departments” at this conference. Could you elaborate on which high-risk departments should focus on specific hand hygiene practices?
Dr. Xiaodong Gao: We have previously discussed the importance of hand hygiene in infection control. From a hand hygiene perspective, there isn’t really a distinction between high-risk and low-risk departments because, in principle, every department carries some infection risk. If hand hygiene measures are not properly implemented, infections can occur. As emphasized by Professor Wenhong Zhang in the opening video, infection control should not be limited to just hand hygiene. However, we must also recognize that, while hand hygiene is fundamental, it is also one of the more challenging infection control measures to implement.
The implementation of hand hygiene involves many management details, such as the design of sinks mentioned in national industry standards, including the depth of the sinks and the installation of splash-proof facilities. These details reflect careful consideration of both the hardware and software involved in hand hygiene. Therefore, to truly improve hand hygiene management, we need to strengthen supervision from hardware facilities to software management and every minute detail. By leveraging new technologies and methods, we can achieve scientific management and improve the effectiveness of hand hygiene in the broader infection control process.
4. Infectious Diseases Frontier: Infection control often requires coordinated efforts across the entire hospital. This conference featured a special report on “Medical Directors Discuss Infection Control.” How do you think infection control efforts can be effectively coordinated across the hospital?
Dr. Xiaodong Gao: China’s policy documents have previously proposed an important concept—”Everyone is a practitioner of scientific infection control.” This idea was first introduced by Dr. Bijie Hu at the 13th SIFIC conference in 2017 and became the theme of that meeting. In his opening speech, Deputy Director Dachuan Li also emphasized the need to shift our infection control approach, noting that we cannot rely solely on the efforts of a single department. Instead, we should develop new technologies and tools and explore new infection control models.
Recently, the national goals for improving medical quality and safety have included many aspects closely related to daily infection control work. However, it is important to note that these goals are not solely the responsibility of the infection control department; they are distributed across different clinical departments. For example, the prevention and control of ventilator-associated pneumonia is assigned to the intensive care unit.
Infection control also involves the participation of relevant functional departments. Each functional department has a certain level of responsibility for infection control. For example, the management of antimicrobial drugs is mainly handled by the medical department, disinfection and isolation work is usually managed by the nursing department, and the disposal of medical waste is the responsibility of the general affairs department. The role of the infection control department in this process is to establish management requirements, conduct supervision, identify risk points, and develop corresponding control measures based on these risks.
During implementation, the infection control department needs to effectively communicate and coordinate with various clinical and functional departments. Poor communication could lead to duplication of work or waste of resources, ultimately affecting the effectiveness of infection control efforts. To avoid such issues, we must fully mobilize the enthusiasm of all departments, clearly define their responsibilities, and strengthen interdepartmental communication and collaboration to create a unified effort. This approach ensures that infection control work progresses in an orderly manner, truly serves clinical needs, and effectively reduces patient infection risks.
