Updates from WHO headquarters

New WHO/UNICEF report - billions still lack basic services in health care facilities

A new joint report from WHO and UNICEF, Essential Services for Quality Care, reveals that despite growing global momentum, billions of people still receive care in health facilities lacking the most basic services. The report, launched ahead of the high-level UN meeting, underscores the urgent need for accelerated investment and action to meet 2030 targets for water, sanitation, hygiene (WASH), waste management, and electricity in health care settings.

The report highlights significant progress: 101 countries submitted validated data in 2025—more than double the number in 2020—showing increased commitment to improving essential services. Over 80% of countries have taken national action, such as developing standards or conducting baseline assessments. However, the gaps remain staggering, since:

• a billion people are served by facilities without basic water services;
• a billion lack access to basic sanitation;
• 1.7 billion are without basic hygiene services;
• 2.8 billion receive care in facilities without proper waste management;
• nearly one billion people rely on facilities with no or unreliable electricity.

Funding is the biggest barrier: while over half of countries have approved national plans, only 1 in 5 report adequate financing.

Access the news story and the report for more detail.

Updates from the WHO Health Emergencies (WHE) IPC & WASH team  

The WHE IPC & WASH team (Health Emergencies Programme, at WHO headquarters) is thrilled to share highlights from recent global activities.

Global Launch of the IPC & WASH HERO CAPE Checklist

More than 1100 participants from 143 countries joined the launch webinar introducing this new tool to support IPC and WASH readiness in health emergencies. Feedback was overwhelmingly positive, with 95% of participants rating the checklist as highly useful.

• Watch the recording here.
• Access the checklist here.

IPC for Mpox: Practical approaches for home-based care

In collaboration with WHO’s Regional Office for Africa, a webinar gathered 308 participants from 51 countries, including representatives from ministries of health, NGOs, UN agencies and academia. The session introduced new WHO IPC guidelines for Mpox, reviewed transmission modes, and featured country experiences such as Zambia’s.

Watch the recording here: English | French

Download session materials here.

New Publication

Preparing to respond to the next pandemic explores the impact of WHO IPC tools during the COVID-19 pandemic and their role in future preparedness.

Read the article here: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/puh2.70133.

New translations available

Thanks to the People's Hospital of Changzhou, People’s Republic of China, key IPC & WASH documents are now available in Mandarin:

• Syndromic screening for infection prevention and control measures during public health emergencies: technical note
• Water, sanitation and hygiene and infection prevention and control measures for infectious diarrhoea in health-care settings: operational guide

 For more information, visit the Health Emergencies IPC and WASH webpage.  

New recommendation for antibiotic prophylaxis during labour 

Updates from the regions

Integrating antimicrobial stewardship and infection control in primary health care facilities

Ahead of the 72nd WHO Eastern Mediterranean Regional Committee (RC72), Member States and partners convened to share their experiences in integrating antimicrobial stewardship and infection prevention and control in primary health care (PHC) settings to address antimicrobial resistance during a pre-RC72 Virtual Week session. The Eastern Mediterranean Region faces nearly 373 000 AMR-related deaths annually and has the highest global antibiotic use. Primary health care is the foundation of health service delivery, yet IPC practices at the PHC level in the Region are often weak. In many areas, access to WASH is limited, so antibiotics are widely prescribed in PHC facilities as a substitute for adequate WASH infrastructure, IPC and immunization services.

The session showcased country experiences, such as:

• Egypt, which has applied behavioural interventions to promote responsible antibiotic use;
• Bahrain has introduced key performance indicators to monitor prescriptions;
• Indonesia has linked IPC and AMS to PHC accreditation and insurance;
• Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of National Guard Hospitals are using digital nudges for prescribers;
• Sweden is emphasizing community engagement and supervision.

However, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) highlighted serious challenges in accessing quality diagnostics and essential antibiotics in fragile settings. Iran stressed the role of strategic decision-making and funding, while Thailand emphasized the importance of a strong regulatory and policy environment in providing a reliable framework for action.

Participants explored digital tools, monitoring systems and evidence-based practices to support integration. The session reinforced the importance of embedding AMS and IPC into broader health reforms, including financing and performance management. Affordable IT and AI solutions were identified as key enablers for scaling up efforts in low- and middle-income countries, positioning PHCs to lead the next phase of the AMR response.

Strengthening IPC systems across Asia and the Pacific: regional workshop highlights

From 16–18 September 2025, IPC leaders and stakeholders from across the Asia-Pacific region convened in Manila for a dynamic three-day workshop focused on advancing IPC systems. Hosted by WHO’s Western Pacific Regional Office (WPRO), the event brought together country representatives, technical advisors, and WHO experts to share experiences, assess progress, and shape future strategies.

Workshop highlights included a gallery walk showcasing country-level IPC system strengthening efforts, deep-dive working group sessions, reviewing national profiles and identifying key achievements, challenges, and priority actions related to the Global Action Plan for IPC and Monitoring & Evaluation (GAPME) and strengthening HAI surveillance readiness.

Highlights included:

• Presentation of the WHO Global Action Plan and Monitoring Framework (2024–2030) and WPRO’s assessment findings.
• Country sharing sessions that illuminated diverse approaches to IPC in emergencies, antimicrobial resistance (AMR), WASH, and patient safety.
• Collaborative feedback on the Draft Regional Action Framework (2025–2030), aimed at guiding IPC efforts across the region.

The final day concluded with a plenary on next steps and a summary of actions for countries, technical advisors, and WHO. Participants left with renewed commitment and actionable insights to strengthen IPC systems and improve patient safety across the region.

Updates from our partners

New publication: Strengthening IPC in primary care

A newly published article in The Journal of Infectious Diseases highlights the urgent need to strengthen IPC in primary health care settings. Despite the high risk of health care-associated infections and antimicrobial resistance, IPC remains underdeveloped in many PHC facilities, especially in low- and middle-income countries.

The article outlines WHO’s core components and minimum requirements for IPC in PHC, emphasizing the importance of trained staff, access to water and sanitation, and evidence-based guidelines. It calls for immediate action to close gaps in infrastructure, education and surveillance.

Read the full article here.

Strengthening IPC to reduce surgical site infections in Brazil

The University of São Paulo School of Nursing, in collaboration with the CDC through TEPHINET, has led the PREVISC-BR project: Improving infection prevention and control to reduce surgical site infections in caesarean section deliveries. This initiative was implemented in volunteer hospitals across the states of São Paulo and Amazonas, in Brazil.

PREVISC-BR focused on enhancing IPC practices to reduce post-operative infections in caesarean deliveries. As part of the project’s outcomes, a comprehensive toolkit was developed and published. It includes practical resources such as data collection tools, patient education leaflets and training materials for health workers.

This toolkit is in Portuguese and freely available at: Toolkit – Conjunto de Ferramentas para Prevenção de Infecções do Sítio Cirúrgico em Parto Cesariano » Previsc-BR

For more details about the project and its impact, visit the official website:

https://previsc-br.ee.usp.br

This initiative highlights the importance of localized, evidence-based approaches to improving maternal health outcomes through strengthened IPC.

This newsletter is prepared by the Infection Prevention and Control Unit and Hub at WHO headquarters, with input from the WHO IPC global team and our wider partners and stakeholders.

For further information on WHO and IPC, please visit the WHO IPC web page.

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Providing WHO information must be balanced with available resources, both human and financial. WHO do their best to translate their most relevant tools and documents. Regretfully, we are not currently able to translate this newsletter into French or Spanish. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you and hope that you will remain a valued reader of the newsletter.

La délivrance d'informations provenant de l'OMS dépend des ressources disponibles, à la fois humaines et financières. L’OMS, y compris l'équipe IPC, fait de son mieux pour traduire ses outils et documents les plus importants. Malheureusement, nous ne sommes pas actuellement en mesure de traduire cette lettre d'information mensuelle en français et en espagnol. Nous nous excusons pour ce désagrément et espérons que vous resterez néanmoins fidèle lecteur/ice de cette lettre d'information.

La información generada por la OMS, depende de los recursos humanos y económicos disponibles. El Programa, y el equipo IPC, realizan sus mejores esfuerzos para traducir el material y documentos de mayor importancia. Desafortunadamente, por el momento no contamos con la facilidad de traducir este boletin mensual en francés o español. Le pedimos disculpas por cualquier inconveniente que podamos causarle, y esperamos seguir contando con su valiosa participación como lector de nuestro boletin.