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Hospitals and Clinics Need to Organise Better
Federal officials announced on Tuesday that the population can avoid infections and thousands of lives can be saved in the next five years. This can only be done if hospitals and clinics revise their acts concerning infection control.
Better coordination is the key. A report that has been released recently demonstrates that appropriate use of antibiotics could cut infection rates with four potentially lethal germs, including so-called “superbugs” that are resistant to drugs. Federal and state funding are necessary if this measure were to go onward.
The funding practically has a long-term benefit as it would enable the country to spare $7.7 billion according to the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention.
Now let us talk numbers: it is important to know that half a million people would never have to deal with painful infections and 37,000 lives could be saved if such an investment were made. CDC experts established that better organization would help bring 619,000 infections to a halt such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), Clostridium difficile or CRE.
Authorities are aware that the issue is a pressing one and the White House has taken interest in solving it. However, funding needs to go up because state health departments are simply not able to keep up the pace and the way the medical system is designed is that there is no one single doctor who takes care of a patient. Several doctors take care of one patient simultaneously.
Dr. Thomas Frieden enforced that facilities are tied to each other and that no one facility can take care of its patients. Everything is like a clock mechanism. If one piece is not working accordingly, then the entire mechanism has to suffer. And the same goes for medical facilities: when an outbreak occurs, it affects all of them.
What are the consequences of postponing a solution? The CDC estimated that antibiotic-resistant bacteria sicken approximately 2 million people every year and kill up to 23,000 a year. Antibiotics are misused when used to counter viral infections and bacteria evolve, meaning that they develop resistance to those specific antibiotics.
The situation is developing into a vicious circle. We blame the government for not funding more, but the government can also blame back for partial irresponsibility either from patients or doctors. Everybody is right, but everybody also has a fault. It remains to be seen what the government’s response will be after properly analyzing the situation.
Funding, to a certain extent, might be the most beneficial solution due to its material and psychological impact. In the end, if people receive more money at the end of the month they might be more motivated to give attention to details and organize themselves better.
Photo Credits myttonwilliams.co.uk
