Objective OPBG is involved in the Project “The 5 Million Lives Campaign”, launched by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI). The objective of this work is to promote awareness in hospital health care personnel about the control of hospital infections.

Methods the project was launched in the first half of 2006, with the formation of three working multidisciplinary groups for each of the three selected interventions: prevention of surgical site infections, prevention of central line infections, and prevention of ventilator-associated pneumonia. Each group has designed a card with two functions: reporting correct activities and creating a check-list as a reminder of procedures to be implemented.

Results Between May 2006–December 2007 4393 procedures were carried out relating to 736 mechanical ventilations, 2034 CVC and 1623 surgical wounds, detected on 3108 patients. In the first 6 months adherence to the project showed an upward trend, reaching a maximum value of 89.42% in 8 months. In the subsequent 12 months there has been a substantial plateau with an average value of roughly 77%. The percentage of infections associated with procedures has shown a significant reduction between the first and second quarter (rates decreased from 12.82% to 4.39%). In the following periods data showed a steady trend between 5% and 7%. Differences observed over time in rates of infection are statistically significant.

Conclusion The study demonstrates that a few EBP may have a high clinical impact, as highlighted by a reduction in infections associated with the procedures.