There's an Urgent Call to Strengthen Infection Control Worldwide
Today, there is an urgent need to shift our focus to health in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) due to the overwhelming burden of preventable diseases and infections. These regions often face significant healthcare challenges, including limited resources, inadequate infrastructure, and high rates of infection. For millions of families living in these settings, an infection that would be minor and easily treatable elsewhere can quickly become life-threatening simply because the systems needed to prevent, detect, and treat it in time are not consistently in place.
A groundbreaking study published in The Lancet sheds light on the staggering toll of bacterial infections in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The study underscores the urgent need for enhanced infection prevention and control (IPC) measures to mitigate the devastating impact of preventable deaths, estimated at around 7.5 million annually in LMICs. That figure represents not just a statistic, but millions of individual lives, families, and communities affected by outcomes that, in many cases, could have been avoided with better infection control practices, access to clean water, timely vaccination, and appropriate antibiotic use.
The study, which analyzed data from 78 LMICs, identified that a significant number of preventable deaths are linked to infections associated with surgical procedures, childbirth, and bloodstream infections. These are precisely the moments — surgery, delivery, and the treatment of serious illness — where patients are most vulnerable, and where the presence or absence of basic infection control measures can make the difference between recovery and tragedy.
Key Measures to Combat Infections and Antimicrobial Resistance
Addressing this crisis requires action on multiple fronts at once — from the way healthcare workers wash their hands, to the water people drink at home, to the vaccines children receive, to how antibiotics are prescribed and used. The following measures have been identified as some of the most effective levers for reducing preventable deaths from bacterial infections in LMICs:
Hand Hygiene and Sterilization: Adhering to the steps of hand hygiene is essential for preventing the spread of infections. Healthcare facilities must ensure regular cleaning and sterilization of equipment to maintain a sterile environment. This is crucial in reducing infections, especially those contracted during medical procedures.
Access to Safe Drinking Water and Sanitation: Ensuring universal access to safe drinking water and effective sanitation in community settings can prevent approximately 250,000 deaths annually. This fundamental public health measure is vital for reducing the incidence of waterborne bacterial infections.
Paediatric Vaccines: Expanding the rollout of vaccines such as pneumococcal vaccines, which protect against pneumonia and meningitis, along with introducing new vaccines like those for the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in pregnant women, could save around 182,000 lives each year.
Antibiotic Stewardship: The inappropriate use of antibiotics has accelerated antimicrobial resistance (AMR), which threatens the efficacy of treatments for bacterial infections. Proper antibiotic stewardship, which includes the appropriate selection and use of antibiotics for bacterial infections, is essential in curbing this rising threat.
Choosing the Right Antibiotic Matters
Understanding what kind of antibiotics treat bacterial infections helps healthcare providers prescribe the best antibiotic for each specific bacterial infection, thereby enhancing treatment outcomes and minimizing resistance. As antimicrobial resistance continues to rise, the margin for error in antibiotic selection narrows — making it increasingly important that clinicians, pharmacists, and health systems work together to ensure that the right antibiotic is used, at the right dose, for the right duration, and only when truly necessary.
To achieve substantial improvements in infection prevention and control (IPC) and save millions of lives annually, coordinated action is recommended at the government and health-systems level.
Government Initiatives
Governments have a central role to play in translating these findings into real-world impact. Two priorities stand out as especially important:
Public Health Campaigns: Governments should run widespread public health campaigns to educate the population on infection prevention and control measures.
Development of Health Infrastructure: Investing in health infrastructure, particularly in rural and underserved areas, is crucial for effective IPC.
Conclusion
The scale of preventable deaths from bacterial infections in low- and middle-income countries — an estimated 7.5 million lives each year — makes clear that this is not a distant or abstract problem, but an urgent, solvable one. Basic measures like consistent hand hygiene, access to safe drinking water and sanitation, expanded paediatric vaccination, and responsible antibiotic stewardship, when implemented together and backed by strong government investment in health infrastructure and public awareness, have the potential to save hundreds of thousands of lives every year.
