India does not have a centralised national system that records hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) across individual healthcare institutions, Union Health Minister JP Nadda informed the Rajya Sabha on July 24.
Responding in the Upper House, Nadda said that while the government has established multiple surveillance mechanisms to monitor healthcare-associated infections through national programmes and specialised institutions, it does not maintain a single nationwide database with institution-wise HAI data.
He explained that HAI monitoring is carried out in selected healthcare facilities through established surveillance networks led by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) Antimicrobial Resistance Research and Surveillance Network (AMRSN), Jai Prakash Narayana Apex Trauma Centre (JPNAC), AIIMS New Delhi, and the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), along with infection surveillance systems implemented at identified hospitals.
The Health Minister noted that surveillance findings from the ICMR-AMRSN and JPNAC network are compiled and published annually in the ICMR’s annual report.
To curb hospital-acquired infections and strengthen patient safety, the government has implemented several initiatives, including the National Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR), National Quality Assurance Standards (NQAS), and the Kayakalp initiative, all aimed at improving infection prevention and control (IPC) practices and reducing antimicrobial resistance.
Nadda further said that the Centre has issued comprehensive guidelines for the surveillance and reporting of HAIs, covering key areas such as hand hygiene, standard and transmission-based precautions, biomedical waste management, environmental cleaning, and the safety of healthcare workers.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), hospital-acquired infections are a significant public health challenge. They are often difficult to treat, contribute substantially to antimicrobial resistance, and are responsible for avoidable deaths, long-term disability, and increased healthcare burden.