WORLD SEPSIS DAY 2026

 WORLD SEPSIS DAY 2026

Theme: “Invest in Sepsis- Save Lives.”

A patient should not walk into a health facility with one illness and leave with a life-threatening infection acquired while receiving care.

Yet this remains a real patient-safety concern.

Sepsis is a life-threatening response to infection that can rapidly progress to organ failure and death. While infections may originate in the community, sepsis can also arise from healthcare-associated infections acquired during treatment and care.

At a recent international medical conference in Egypt attended by the CEO of EDOHERMA, a presentation highlighted the significant relationship between sepsis and deficiencies in Infection Prevention and Control (IPC), citing poor IPC practices in hospitals as contributing to 73% of the sepsis burden discussed in that presentation

The wider global evidence is equally concerning.

The World Health Organization estimates that 15 out of every 1,000 hospitalised patients develop sepsis as a complication of receiving healthcare.

In acute-care hospitals, approximately 15 out of every 100 patients in low- and middle-income countries acquire at least one healthcare-associated infection during their hospital stay, and about 1 in 10 patients affected by a healthcare-associated infection dies.

But there is also encouraging evidence: good Infection Prevention and Control programmes can prevent up to 70% of healthcare-associated infections.

This is where prevention becomes critical.

A clean healthcare environment is not merely about appearance. IPC means proper hand hygiene, sterilisation and disinfection, safe injection practices, appropriate waste management, clean water and sanitation, environmental cleaning, correct use of personal protective equipment, safe management of invasive devices and systems that prevent infections from spreading between patients and healthcare workers

A hospital must not become the source of the infection it is supposed to treat.

This is one of the reasons the Edo State Healthcare Regulation and Monitoring Agency (EDOHERMA) introduced Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) Certification for health facilities in Edo State.

The certification is a deliberate preventive intervention aimed at assessing and strengthening IPC systems within health facilities, promoting safer healthcare environments and reducing avoidable healthcare-associated infections that can ultimately progress to sepsis.

EDOHERMA believes that healthcare regulation must go beyond reacting when something goes wrong. Modern regulation must anticipate risks and prevent harm before it occurs.

Our IPC Certification is one of several new interventions through which EDOHERMA is bringing innovation into healthcare regulation and making patient safety measurable, visible and accountable.

The 2026 World Sepsis Day theme, “Invest in Sepsis - Save Lives,” therefore speaks directly to our work.

Investing in sepsis does not begin only when a patient is critically ill.

It begins with preventing the infection.

It begins with clean hands.

It begins with clean equipment.

It begins with a clean and safe health facility.

It begins with strong IPC systems.

Prevention will always be better than managing a preventable tragedy.

At EDOHERMA, we are building a regulatory system where patients should be able to enter a health facility confident that the environment designed to heal them will not expose them to avoidable harm.

Invest in IPC.

Prevent Infection.

Prevent Sepsis.

Save Lives.

Health Promotion Unit

September 2026

EDOHERMA- Raising Standards. Protecting Patients. Saving Lives.

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