Amid rising cases of Covid-19 in Bihar, the state government on Saturday launched an eight-day virtual training and sensitisation programme on infection control and best practices by experts from Delhi’s All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).

The exercise will cover all the 38 districts of the state and conclude on September 3.

The programme on infection control and best practices involves Bihar’s healthcare workers down the line – from doctors to ward boys and cook.

Health department principal secretary Pratyaya Amrit, who assumed charge of the department earlier this month after two reshuffles at the top in the midst of pandemic, said experience and knowledge sharing on best practices was always helpful in such times when there was no room for getting complacent until there was a vaccine available.

“I have been holding meetings with all the superintendents and principals of medical colleges and hospitals for the past couple of weeks every Monday and also made field visits to underline the importance of experience sharing for adopting best practices, as Covid management requires training at all levels – be it the cook providing food to patients, trolly boy, housekeeping staff as well as others directly involved in the treatment,, as infection at any level could turn out to be a source of superspreaders,” he said.

He said that virtual experience sharing had also been done with the healthcare professionals and others at the Patna Medical College Hospital and the Jawahar Lal Nehru Memorial Medical College, Bhagalpur in the past by AIIMS experts.

The government is also trying to engage the WHO in the exercise..

“We want to make experience sharing a continuous process. From next week, we will try to rope in WHO experts also as a lot is still changing and we need to be prepared, which will require adoption of best practices. If required, we will also send doctors and healthcare staff to learn best practices at AIIMS or other top hospitals. Post-Covid treatment is also emerging as an important component, as many people have issues. AIIMS Patna is already working on it and a couple of more hospitals will also be prepared for that,” he added.

Five districts will be covered on Saturday in the training and sensitisation programme.

Jehanabad civil surgeon Dr Vijay Kumar Sinha said all preparations have been made for the virtual training and all in charges of hospitals and doctors and healthcare workers of the primary health centres would participate in it.

Last month, the same team from AIIMS Delhi had conducted a training session for the doctors of Sadar Hospital, Ara at the request of Union minister for power Raj Kumar Singh, it was the first of its kind initiative in the state grappling with a surge in Covid-19 positive cases. The Bihar government has now decided to extend it to all the hospitals for better clinical management and infection control.

The team of doctors from AIIMS involved in the training includes associate professor Dr Neeraj Nischal, Dr Ankit Mittal, Dr Shivdas Naik and Mrs Lilu Tomas (nursing officer).

The experts, according to a senior official of Delhi AIIMS, will hold interactive virtual sessions to impart training on best practices, which will cover various aspects, viz. use of PPE kit for safety of health workers while taking care of Covid-19 patients and various dos and don’ts.

“In the fight against Covid, the most important aspect is that the healthcare workers and doctors need to protect themselves first. It will be immensely helpful for district hospitals to understand the nuances of Covid-19 treatment and lead to better care without having to move to Patna,” said the official.

The move is significant as several doctors and healthcare professionals have died after being infected. The attempt is to create a safe environment for doctors and health staff so that they could treat patients without fear.

During an earlier visit to Patna with a central team, Dr Nischal had said that the first and the foremost importance be given to hospital infection control policy and for this a mechanism be developed for proper training to staff and doctors across the healthcare system. The central team was surprised to see that attendants were allowed to freely move in and out of the Covid wards.