Every October, the International Infection Prevention Week (IIPW) shines a spotlight on a challenge that concerns everyone: the prevention of healthcare-associated infections (HAIs). This year, the chosen theme — “STAND UPPP for Infection Prevention” — is not just a slogan, but a call to collective action. It means standing up, taking a stand, and committing to protect the health of patients, healthcare workers, and the community.
A threat still underestimated
Hospitals are places of care, but for many patients, they can turn into environments of unexpected risk. According to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC, 2024), over 4 million patients in the European Union acquire a healthcare-associated infection each year. Of these, approximately 37,000 die directly from the infection, while over 110,000 deaths are linked to infectious complications.
In Italy, the National Institute of Health (ISS) estimates more than 530,000 cases of HAIs annually, with a huge human and economic impact.
The consequences? Longer hospital stays, additional treatments, increased use of antibiotics, and avoidable suffering.
Yet, the most surprising aspect is that the majority of these infections are preventable.
The most common infections and their risks
ICAs include several types of infections, often related to essential but potentially risky medical procedures or devices:
- Urinary tract infections (UTIs): frequent in patients with urinary catheters, caused by poor hygiene or unsterile handling.
- Surgical site infections (SSI): can affect the skin or deep tissues after surgery.
- Mechanical ventilation-associated pneumonias (VAPs): typical of intensive care, favored by contaminated equipment or suboptimal hygiene.
- Bloodstream infections (BSIs): among the most serious, they result from the entry of bacteria into the bloodstream via venous lines or catheters.
- Clostridioides difficile (C. diff): highly contagious bacterium that spreads through contaminated hands or surfaces.
Each type of infection tells a different story, but they all have one thing in common: they can be reduced or prevented with rigorous and ongoing prevention practices.
The Cost of Failing to Prevent
Hospital-acquired infections are not just a clinical problem: they represent a systemic challenge.
Beyond the human impact, they translate into a significant economic burden for European healthcare systems. The ECDC 2024 report
estimates that HAIs generate billions of euros in direct and indirect costs every year, linked to additional hospital days, drug treatments, and work absenteeism.
But the good news is that investing in prevention pays off: the World Health Organization (WHO) states that every euro spent on prevention generates an average return of 16 euros in healthcare savings (WHO, Report on the Economics of Health and Infection Prevention, 2023).
In other words, prevention saves lives — and resources.
Hand hygiene: the simplest and most powerful defense
At the heart of prevention is a seemingly simple gesture that is actually decisive: handwashing.
Hands are the main vehicle for pathogen transmission in healthcare settings. Yet, compliance with hand hygiene among healthcare workers still ranges between 30% and 60%, according to the WHO.
This gap is not solely due to a lack of will, but also to high workloads, distractions, absence of immediate feedback, or insufficient safety culture. Creating environments that promote and facilitate hygiene is therefore not a minor detail: it is a high-impact prevention strategy.
A culture of safety that involves everyone
Preventing infections does not just mean adopting protocols. It means building a shared culture where each person, from doctor to nurse, technician to patient, becomes an active participant in health safety.WHO identifies three key principles:
- Continuing education and training to update knowledge and behavior.
- Shared responsibility, because safety is not just the job of the medical staff but of the whole system.
- Technological innovation, to monitor, analyze and improve daily practices in real time.
When a culture of prevention becomes part of a healthcare facility's identity, infections decrease and trust grows.
Italy: progress and prospects
The National Plan for the Prevention and Control of Healthcare-Associated Infections (Piano ICA 2022–2025) from the Ministry of Health marks an important step in the right direction. The goal is to reduce HAIs by 20% by 2025 by improving staff training, data surveillance, and the adoption of supporting technologies. However, the real challenge remains cultural: transforming prevention from a regulatory obligation into a natural reflex, from an occasional action into a daily practice.
STAND UPPP: a call to action
The message of IIPW 2025 is clear: STAND UPPP for Infection Prevention — Stand for unity, partnership, progress, and protection. It is a call to everyone working in healthcare to come together for a common goal: reduce infections, improve safety, and make hospitals places of care, not risk. Every action counts:
- one extra handwash,
- a protocol correctly followed,
- a timely report,
- a positive example in front of colleagues.
These are the daily actions that, when combined, build safer systems.
Ready to build a stronger hygiene culture in your hospital? Contact us for more info or to request a consultation