World Sepsis Day: Stop Sepsis, Save Lives

13th September is Sepsis Awareness Day. Sepsis is the leading killer of children and mothers worldwide, but there is a lack of sepsis awareness. You can take action and help to increase the awareness and participate in education about sepsis.

This message was written by Niranjan "Tex" Kissoon MBBS, MCCM, FRCP(C), FAAP, FACPE, Vice Chairman of the Global Sepsis Alliance and World Sepsis Day.World Sepsis Day is here once more. Since World Sepsis Day 2014 we have made great gains, however, we need your full support as we move forward in our agenda to enable us to obtain a declaration of a World Sepsis Day by the United Nations General Assembly. We are all aware that there is lack of sepsis awareness despite marked increase in sepsis incidence worldwide and unacceptably high mortalities associated with this condition. There are delays in seeking care by lay individuals, delays in recognition and treatment by healthcare professionals and so far there have been inadequate responses by national / international health care authorities and inadequate funding for sepsis. The goals of the World Global Sepsis Alliance and World Sepsis Day movement to achieve the following: 

  1. Achieve a mandate for World Sepsis Day by the World Health Assembly and WHO.
  2. Increase awareness from health care workers, public, media and policy makers.
  3. Encourage national action plans against sepsis.
  4. Foster quality improvement initiatives at a local level.
  5. Achieve adequate representation of sepsis in the Global Burden of Disease Registry.
  6. Generate reliable estimates on sepsis incidents in low and middle income countries. 

Addressing sepsis calls for a comprehensive plan which includes the following:

  1. Preventing infections by encouraging:
    • Vaccinations
    • Strict hand hygiene
    • Address nosocomial infections (also known as hospital- acquired infection)
  2. Early recognition and aggressive treatment
  3. Rational use of antimicrobials
  4. Innovations in care
  5. Research
  6. Knowledge Translation and Advocacy
  7. Investments in the Science of Delivery

So far we have put together a task force in our effort to achieve recognition of an official World Sepsis Day by the United Nations. We have made some gains in that the WHO has started to promote World Sepsis Day activities on its website and we have also received favorable support from many countries and organizations around the world. The World Health Assembly endorsement will enable us to achieve the following:

  1. A rise in public awareness in member states.
  2. Sepsis linked tightly to infection prevention and anti-microbial stewardship campaigns.
  3. Improve access to basic aspects of care.
  4. Increase in number of national registries.
  5. Greater funding allocated to research and improvement. 

There are many things that you can do both as individuals and health care workers in this fight. Some of the activities that would help us to decrease the burden of sepsis are the following: 

  1. Initiate quality improvement in your hospital region or country.
  2. Involve your health care authorities in your sepsis endeavors.
  3. Involve sepsis survivors and their relatives.
  4. Help to increase awareness among laypeople, the public and media.
  5. Share your experience by joining one of the Global Sepsis Alliance Committees.
  6. Become a supporter of World Sepsis Day by registering and signing the World Sepsis Declaration at http://world-sepsis-day.org 

We have made great grounds within the last year but there is a lot more to do. With your help, we will be able to achieve our goals.You can stay connected on Twitter and Facebook. 

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