Knockout Infections

Background

Hospital-acquired infections (HAI) are a major, yet often preventable, threat to patient safety, and infection prevention is, first and foremost, a responsibility of hospital staff. Every individual, from the surgeon to the lab technician is an equal partner in the one block in the chain of prevention.

Idea

The National Initiatives Fund set out to tackle the problem with ‘The Life Shield Project’. The objective was to knock out infections.

More than 550 hospital staff members in two of the largest hospitals in Israel were photographed.

From senior administrators and department heads to doctors, surgeons, nurses, radiographers, and maintenance personnel, plus the household, transport and cleaning staff, hundreds of people were photographed, each person demonstrating their own personal commitment to the fight against infection.

The photographs and the message, "Knockout Infections: The fight against infections is in our hands. Keep washing your hands again and again and again,” were posted on doors, walls, elevators, in passageways and corridors, on buttons, bottles and screensavers. 24/7, the message was an encouragement to all staff and a reassurance to all patients.

Results

Sheba, Israel’s largest hospital, saw the level of acquired infections drop by 22% and in the first quarter of 2018, Galilee Medical Center has seen acquired infections drop 50%.

Our Thoughts

There are reckoned to be 1.7 nosocomial infections in the USA each year, causing or contributing to 99,000 deaths. So, while the numbers may be smaller in Israel, they will still be significant. In the US, the solution is seen as developing new antibiotics. Yet, it is becoming evident that bacteria are becoming increasingly resistant to all antibiotics. Which is what makes this idea so timely and so interesting. Turning to an ad agency rather than to a pharmaceuticals company already looks as if it is changing behaviours and saving lives.