Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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192. To ask the Minister for Health the cost-analysis figures for the socio-economic burden of hospital acquired infection; the comparative figures for other European Union countries; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12324/16]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The prevention and control of Healthcare Associated Infections (HCAIs) and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has been a patient safety and public health priority for the Department of Health for many years.

HCAI surveillance is complex. Information on excess costs of HCAIs such as prolonged hospital stay, further treatments required, attributable mortality and other complications can be difficult to retrieve as they require complex evaluation, particularly to confirm that they are directly linked to HCAI episodes and not to other factors. National HCAI surveillance systems at European level are, however, in place and EU Member States collect routinely-generated antimicrobial susceptibility testing data in invasive infections and report to the European Centre for Disease Control (ECDC) through its European Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance Network (EARS-Net).

The ECDC assesses this data along with estimated costs of increased hospital stays and treatments. European estimates indicate that approximately 4,100,000 patients are estimated to acquire a HCAI in the EU each year with 37,000 attributable deaths annually and HCAIs also contributing to an additional 110,000 deaths. The burden of HCAI is also reflected in significant financial losses. According to the ECDC these infections account for approximately €7 billion per year. The ECDC 2011-2012 Point Prevalence Survey of HCAIs and AMR use in European hospitals estimates that Ireland had 494 patients with a HCAI. This equated to a mean of 9,554 beds occupied per day. (A Point Prevalence Survey gives a snapshot picture of the number of patients with a HCAI in hospital at a particular point in time).

The National Clinical Guideline 'Prevention and Control Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus(MRSA)', endorsed by the National Clinical Effectiveness Committee (NCEC) in 2013 estimated the cost of HCAI in Ireland for 2011, extrapolated from national (HSE) and international sources, at €118, 257,312 with 29,388 patients acquiring a HCAI.

Management and reduction of Healthcare Associated Infections (HCAIs) is made very challenging by the rise in antimicrobial resistance world wide. The World Health Organisation (WHO) states that the rise in antimicrobial resistance is one of the greatest potential threats to human and animal health at global, European and national levels with possible serious consequences for public health, animal welfare and the agriculture and food sectors.

A wide range of initiatives has been put in place in the Irish health system over several years to address HCAI and AMR including improved surveillance of infections and prescribing, infection prevention and control processes, antimicrobial stewardship initiatives, public and professional awareness raising and with a significant emphasis on the education and training of healthcare professionals. Ireland also fully supports the WHO Global Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance and through the Interdepartmental AMR Consultative Committee, established by the Chief Medical Officer of this Department and the Chief Veterinary Officer of the Department of Agriculture, and endorsed by both Ministers for Health and Agriculture, Food and the Marine respectively, is addressing the WHO's requirement for all countries to have in place an Intersectoral Mechanism to develop a national action plan against AMR to address both the human and animal sectors, agriculture and the wider environment.

Ireland also supports and has actively engaged on the European Commission's Draft Council Conclusions on AMR which will be presented for adoption to the Ministerial meeting of EPSCO (Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs) on 17th June 2016; this document will call on Member States and the European Commission to develop a new and comprehensive EU Action Plan on AMR. Ireland is fully committed to and engaged in addressing resolution of the problem of AMR and will continue to collaborate at international, EU and national levels to this end.