Do Hospitals Help Cure Our Health Problems?

Let us aim to answer this simple question, which could sound silly at first, but I promise that it will make sense as you read further. Let me clarify that hospitals are not being targeted and we at SHARP respect all the healthcare workers.

Moving on, we go to a hospital to seek healthcare and cure our health problems however, the World Health Organization estimates that there are about 1.4 million people who get affected by a new infection as they go to the hospital. This is because of the poor hygiene practiced at the hospitals. From not sanitizing/washing hands to not sanitizing surfaces frequently. The spread of infections in this manner is called Health-care Associated Infections (HAI). Undoubtedly, healthcare workers are also at risk of getting these kinds of infections. Moreover, it is approximated that 1 out 9 people could die of these infections.

Patients who are asked to get admitted for a long time are at a higher risk of getting infected. Unfortunately, some of the patients might be having a very low immunity making them even more susceptible to getting infected. A few other factors that might further contribute to this could be inadequate infrastructure, malpractice in terms of disposing of the waste, overcrowding, lack of equipment, etc. These problems could elevate because of the drug resistance of the growing colonies of these harmful microorganisms which are not treated, and over some time, grow to evolve and adapt to the measures (in terms of chemicals) that are being taken to kill them.

The issue is, however, not overlooked and effective measures are being taken, for example, the use of technology. One of which is the ‘Xenex robot’ that kills these germs from time to time. There is another innovation which is ‘Electronic hand hygiene monitoring. This is a sensor placed on the healthcare workers’ coats detects whether or not their hands are being washed often and if so, it turns green, otherwise red. It even reminds them to wash their hands. It keeps a record of the same and helps with transparency and no biases.

Ongoing research is being done to make breathable disinfectants that can be diffused into the air to kill these microorganisms.

We at SHARP believe that these solutions can help us overcome this issue effectively. The increasing sensitization to the possible infections and advancements in medicine is very commendable as in the future we could have the potential to be able to eliminate or treat certain health issues at the very first stage, reducing the harm that these could cause to society and the economy.

I hope the question is now more meaningful.

-Bhuvee Jivangikar

Head of Blog Design at SHARP

References

“Digital Technologies for Improving Hygiene in Health Facilities.” The Medical Futurist, 16 Aug. 2018, medicalfuturist.com/digital-technologies-for-improving-hygiene-in-health-facilities/.

“ Healthcare Associated Infections (HAIs).” Premier, www.premiersafetyinstitute.org/safety-topics-az/healthcare-associated-infections-hais/hai/.