Reducing the Risk of COVID-19 Contagion in Healthcare Facilities

Protecting the integrity and capacity of human resources in the healthcare sector is a priority for CAF—development bank of Latin America—, which is providing comprehensive support to the region through funds, technical assistance and knowledge generation.

Aiming to support countries of the region in training current and potential healthcare personnel serving during the pandemic, we have organized a webinar on “Recommendations for Reducing the Risk of COVID-19 Contagion in Healthcare Facilities,” which will provide information on the current state of preventive recommendations for healthcare personnel to reduce the risk of infection of the current pandemic disease.

Dr. Carlos Fernando Aguirre Castro, expert in the prevention of hospital-acquired infections, Professor emeritus of the Faculty of Medicine of Universidad Mayor de San Andrés de La Paz, Bolivia, PhD in Medicine and Surgery, and Master in Tropical Parasitic Diseases from the University of Valencia, Spain, emphasized during his presentation the importance of strict compliance with general and specific infection prevention protocols, as staff in healthcare centers are exposed to a high risk of contagion, which must be minimized.

It is important that national and local health authorities ensure an adequate provision of supplies and equipment for personal protection, together with constant peer training and monitoring compliance with these measures, noted Dr. Aguirre Castro. 

CAF has been carrying out a series of financial and technical actions, leading to strengthening countries’ responsiveness to the COVID-19 pandemic; these include more specialized information and technical training actions. In this regard, new webinars on epidemiological surveillance in epidemics and pandemics are planned, among other topics to be defined in coordination with the health authorities of the various CAF shareholder countries.