DebMed Supports 28th Annual International Infection Prevention Week

CHARLOTTE, N.C., Oct. 21, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- In recognition of the importance of infection prevention to patient safety, DebMed® is joining the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) as a Champion for International Infection Prevention Week (IIPW), October 19-25. DebMed has a number of activities planned to help educate consumers and healthcare professionals about the importance of infection prevention.

"We look forward to IIPW each year," said Heather McLarney, Vice President of Marketing, DebMed. "By working collaboratively with APIC and its partners, we are moving toward achieving better and safer patient care and are celebrating the work that is being done to reduce healthcare-associated infections."

During IIPW, DebMed will present a webinar titled "Infection Prevention through Proper Hand Hygiene" with Dr. Didier Pittet of the World Health Organization (WHO) on October 23 at 11:00 a.m. EDT and 2:00 p.m. EDT. This presentation will provide attendees with information on how to improve patient safety and understand the latest in increasing hand hygiene compliance in their facility. All attendees will receive a copy of the book "Clean Hands Save Lives," co-authored by Pittet. 

DebMed will also be supporting IIPW through donations of hand sanitizer to six regional APIC chapters for their IIPW events. Additionally, the company has donated 18,288 bottles of sanitizer to the WHO to aid efforts to stop the spread of the Ebola virus in Africa. Organized and led by the WHO and supported by members of Private Organizations for Patient Safety (POPS), of which DebMed is a founding member, the donation initiative is necessitated to provide further support as the deadly Ebola virus in West Africa has claimed nearly 3,900 lives.

"Our hope is that these efforts during IIPW raise much needed awareness for proper hand hygiene and overall patient safety," said McLarney. "We will work well beyond this celebratory week alongside APIC and its fellow partners to try to make a difference and improve infection prevention for the betterment of healthcare."

DebMed is the creator of the world's first electronic hand hygiene compliance monitoring system based on the WHO's Five Moments for Hand Hygiene and CDC hand hygiene compliance standards. For more information on the company, visit www.debmed.com. To view more downloadable and shareable resources for use during IIPW and throughout the year, visit APIC's "Infection Prevention and You" website www.apic.org/infectionpreventionandyou.

About DebMed®
DebMed is the healthcare program of the Deb Group. The DebMed program offers innovative hand hygiene products, electronic monitoring technology, and improvement tools to support hand hygiene compliance.  The DebMed® GMS™ (Group Monitoring System), winner of the 2013 Frost & Sullivan Hand Hygiene Solutions New Product Innovation Award, is the world's first group monitoring system to report hand hygiene compliance rates based on the World Health Organization's (WHO) "Five Moments for Hand Hygiene" and to date has recorded more than 65 million hand hygiene events.  The system is being utilized in a four year, multi-site research project being conducted by the Columbia University School of Nursing and funded by a $1.2 million grant from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). For more information, visit www.debmed.com.

About Deb Group
Possessing international scale and strong local market presence, Deb Group provides innovative skin care programs for all types of workplace and public environments, spanning industrial, commercial, healthcare and food sectors.  Headquartered in the United Kingdom with US operations based in Charlotte, NC, Deb Group is comprised of 21 companies operating in 16 countries.  For more information, visit www.debgroup.com.

About IIPW
IIPW raises awareness of the role infection prevention plays to improve patient safety and promotes the belief that everyone plays a role in infection prevention. Established in 1986 by President Ronald Reagan, APIC has spearheaded the annual effort to highlight the importance of infection prevention among healthcare professionals, administrators, legislators, and consumers. It is now formally recognized in many areas around the world including the U.S., Australia, the United Kingdom, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia. As IIPW expands, more patients benefit from safer healthcare practices and reduced threat of healthcare-associated infections. Learn more about IIPW on Facebook and Twitter (#IIPW).

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SOURCE DebMed

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