Department of pharmacy practise, Annamalai University and RMMC hospital have taken proactive steps to sensitise the health professionals in RMMC hospitals on preventing hospital acquired infection. This comes in the backdrop of reported emergence of New Delhi metallo lectamase-1 (NDM-1) superbugs. A series of orientation and sensitisation workshops have been jointly organised for nurses, pharmacist, sanitary workers and doctors.

Around 200 health professionals were covered under this programme. While addressing the first workshop, vice chancellor, Dr M Ramanathan, called upon the health professionals to follow good practises to prevent hospital acquired infections for the benefit of both patients and health professionals.

The average prevalence of hospital acquired infection in the South East Asia region is 10 per cent causing public health hazards with increasing economic and human impact. He insisted that the doctors should judiciously use anti-biotics to prevent the emergence of resistance. Under this programme the trained professionals from various health disciplines who have participated as resource discussed the area like hand hygiene, person to person and environment to person transmission of infections, importance of sanitisation, appropriate disposal of biomedical wastes and the practical aspects of precautions required to be followed by health professionals.

The orientation and sanitisation programme was led by a team of Dr G P Mohanta, Dr P K Manna, Dr S Parimalakrishnan, and Dr R Manavalan of the department of pharmacy practise. Other members of the campaign team included Dr C K Dhnapal, S Madhusudhan, R T Saravana Kumar, K Saravanan, R Mahesh, G Veeramani, G Gopalakrishnan, P Mahendravarman and D Ashok Kumar. The programme has been supported by the ecumenical pharmaceutical network (EPN), Kenya.