The University's International Healthcare Worker Safety Center established a new health safety center in the Democratic Republic of Congo this summer with partners Becton, Dickinson and Company and the Dikembe Mutombo Foundation.
The new Center of Excellence in Occupational Safety for Health Workers, which opened Aug. 26, is associated with the Biamba Marie Mutombo Hospital, which NBA star and foundation chairman and president Dikembe Mutombo named after his mother.
The center provides safe and immediate testing for blood-borne diseases, fulfilling a genuine need of healthcare workers in the Congo, IHWSC president Janine Jagger said.
"Healthcare workers in the poorest places in the world are the ones at highest risk for occupational infection," she said. Because of the prevalence of blood-borne pathogens, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, Jagger said, healthcare workers need a private, well-maintained testing facility. Accidents occur and with less access to protective technologies, Jagger said these workers are more vulnerable than workers in other parts of the world.
According to University Center Assoc. Director Jane Perry, healthcare workers in the developing world are at serious risk of contracting blood-born infections like HIV or hepatitis through accidental needle sticks.
"In every country around the world, healthcare workers are a pretty scarce resource, but it's much worse in the developing world, so it's critical to invest in the safety of the HC workforce," Perry added.
During an August visit to the Congo, both Jagger and Medical Asst. Prof. Elayne Phillips shared information about safety with hospital employees. Phillips said she worked with the Mutombo Hospital to conduct a baseline survey of the healthcare workers to see the kinds of risks they currently face to design intervention steps to reduce those risks.
"Healthcare workers all around the world ... just in their day-to-day work are exposed to contaminated blood and sharp devices," Phillips said. "Particularly in countries where they don't have resources, they are putting their life on the line just to do their job."
Jagger also introduced hospital workers to EPINet, a tool which detects any potentially contracted diseases from medical blades and needles. The workers were trained in prevention strategies, surveillance systems, software installation and specific technological protocols.
The Center offers essential safeguards for an important and often overlooked demographic, Phillips added. "Healthcare workers are a critical factor in any healthcare system, and without them, the entire system collapses," she said.
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