In June, we announced the winners of the 2019 Global Sepsis Awards. In addition to the five winners, nine other entities were commended for their valuable contribution in the global fight against sepsis.

Over the coming months, we will give both the 2019 GSA Award Winners as well as the activities and initiatives by the entities that were commended the possibility to share their projects and initiatives in more detail on our websites, and after our colleagues from Italy in June, the project “Stop Sepsis in Croatia” in July, and the ‘6th Annual Jeff Davis Sepsis Challenge 5K’ in September, we would like to introduce the German Sepsis Aid today.

The German Sepsis Aid

The German Sepsis Aid (Deutsche Sepsis-Hilfe e.V., DSH) was founded in 2007 and is the world's first association of sepsis patients and their relatives.

The DSH provides a unique platform for sepsis-survivors and their families to connect with each other, to share experiences, to find support, and to attend trainings. People who are aware of sepsis by own experience volunteer to give practical and psychosocial assistance and information, according to the principle of „sepsis patients help sepsis patients“.

The current number of members is 351. The DHS is a non-profit-organization, which is financed exclusively by donations, membership fees, and subsidies of health insurance companies.

The work of the DSH focuses on 4 main areas:

1. Support and Counseling for Patients, Relatives, and Surviving Relatives

   Central to the work of the DSH is the "sepsis-hotline”, a phone-helpline that was set up for those who have questions about sepsis. The number is 0700 73774700 and can be reached daily between 08:00 and 21:00h. Those who have been affected by sepsis themselves have first-hand experience and can therefore give a good first response.

   Additional inquiries are made by email or using the contact form on the DSH website, with the total number of requests exceeding 500 annually. Specific medical questions can be forwarded to physicians or a psychologist who volunteers for the DSH.

   Currently, a network is being set up regarding certain long-term effects of sepsis. DSH members, who e.g. suffer from cognitive impairment or amputations, have agreed to be available as contact persons in case of specific physical harm.
   

2. Creation and Distribution of Information Materials

   Upon request, the inquirers can receive detailed information material free of charge, e.g. the booklet “Informationen für Betroffene und Angehörige“ (Information for Patients and Relatives) which was edited by the DSH.
   

3. Educating the General Public and Creating Awareness

   Another task of the association is to raise awareness for sepsis. Therefore, the DSH is present at numerous public events with an information booth. Furthermore, the DSH provides information on its homepage and its Facebook page. On request, the association is able to organize public training events on sepsis.
   

4. Support Services to Members of the DSH

   Once a year, a meeting for all DSH members takes place. In addition to lectures and yearly reports, the two-day meeting will focus on the exchange between the members. Twice a year, members receive an exclusive newsletter.

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The Global Sepsis Awards, which are sponsored by the Erin Kay Flatley Memorial Foundation, honor outstanding efforts to increase sepsis awareness and raise the quality of sepsis prevention and management.

The awards are granted in three categories, namely governments and healthcare authorities, non-governmental organizations, patient advocate or healthcare provider groups, and individuals, consistent with the aims of the World Sepsis Declaration and the World Sepsis Day Movement.

Winners in category II and III will receive $2,500 prize money each. Applications and nominations for the 2020 GSA Awards open in January 2020 and close on March 31st, 2020.

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On November 19th, 2019, the Sepsis Alliance Pakistan (SoAP) was launched by a diverse group of 43 doctors in Pakistan, as well as the Karachi Sepsis Declaration adopted. Honorable Governor Sindh Imran Ismail himself signed the Karachi Sepsis Declaration at the Sindh Governor House, Karachi, Pakistan.

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Karachi Sepsis Declaration

Commitment to Improve Sepsis Awareness, Early Recognition, Prevention, Care, and Research in Pakistan

Sepsis results when the body’s response to an infection injures its own tissues leading to vital organ failure and critical illness if not managed early and appropriately. It is responsible for killing over 6 million people per year worldwide, claiming more lives than bowel and breast cancer combined.

Sepsis does not discriminate against age, gender, religion, social status or geographic borders. An estimated 60-80% of deaths in developing countries like Pakistan occur due to sepsis. Low standards of living, poor hygiene, malnutrition, limited access to healthcare facilities and weak health systems contribute to the disproportionately high morbidity and mortality from sepsis in our region.

We acknowledge that;

• Despite the unacceptable number of deaths and disabilities caused by sepsis, the awareness of sepsis among healthcare providers and laypeople in the country is very low.

• There is usually an unacceptable delay in recognizing sepsis and a wide variation in practice among doctors to treat sepsis.

• Hospital-acquired infections (HAI) and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) are a major healthcare issue in the country.

• National policies to improve prevention, recognition, and treatment of sepsis are lacking in Pakistan.

On November 19th 2019, members of various medical societies urge government authorities, policy makers, healthcare managers, professionals and philanthropists to help us to;

• Promote Sepsis Awareness among lay people and healthcare workers, by commemorating World Sepsis Day every year on September 13th and throughout the year by focused activities.

• Prioritize Sepsis Prevention by promoting practices of good general hygiene and hand washing, improvement in sanitation, clean deliveries and nutrition, and encouraging vaccination in high-risk groups.

• Reduce the time-to-recognize sepsis by front line physicians and the variation in Sepsis Management in hospitals and intensive care units through undergraduate and postgraduate education and training of healthcare professionals.

• Encourage hospital managements to adopt measures aimed at minimizing the risk of development and spread of AMR and HAI.

• Facilitate collaborative Sepsis Research in the country through establishment of sepsis registries to document burden of disease in Pakistan and identify vulnerable groups and cost effective interventions to improve outcomes.

• Guide policy makers formulate a National Action Plan to adopt the WHO resolution (WHA 70.7) of May 2017 for improving the prevention, diagnosis and clinical management of sepsis

We encourage representatives of various professional societies of physicians, surgeons, paediatricians, emergency and intensive care medicine, infectious diseases and microbiology, public health and nurses from government and nongovernment organizations to join hands with Sepsis Alliance Pakistan (SoAP) to fight sepsis in our country.

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We would like to inform you that we have moved our office from Jena to Berlin this week. We are now based at the Charité University Hospital Berlin, in this beautiful brutalist style building that houses a variety of specialities, including immunology, virology, and now, sepsis.

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New Visitor Address

Global Sepsis Alliance
c/o Charité University Hospital
Hindenburgdamm 27
12203 Berlin
Germany

New telephone number

+49 30 450551419

 

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The 2019 World Sepsis Day Event Poster is now available, summarizing hundreds of events and activities that took place this World Sepsis Day to raise awareness for sepsis. Additionally, we invite you to give feedback on the poster as well as to order printed copies.

Our colleagues from the Asia Pacific Sepsis Alliance (APSA) have launched their new website and unveiled their new logo last Friday - asiapacificsepsisalliance.org.

The APSA was founded in Bangkok in October 2018 and is one of the regional sepsis alliances we are establishing all around the world to work closer with national stakeholders, regional governments, and the WHO regional offices, to implement changes on how sepsis is prioritized, diagnosed, and treated all around the world, as laid out by the WHO Resolution on Sepsis.

The Global Sepsis Alliance is happy to support the Joint Call on Patient Safety and HAI Prevention and Control. A healthcare-associated infection (HAI) is an infection that occurs in a patient during the process of care in a hospital or healthcare facility, which was not present (or incubating) at the time of admission to said facility.

About 20% of sepsis cases can be attributed to HAIs – the remaining 80% are contracted outside of a healthcare facility. Therefore, preventing infections in hospitals is a crucial step to improve patient safety and decrease both sepsis cases and the overuse of antibiotics. Every infection prevented is an antibiotic treatment avoided.

Each November, World Antibiotic Awareness Week increases global awareness of antibiotic resistance and encourages best practices among the general public, healthcare workers, and policy makers.

Sepsis and antibiotics are closely linked – sepsis can occur as the result of antimicrobial resistance and is the driving need for antimicrobial stewardship. Antibiotics are the only really effective treatment for sepsis - for every hour the correct ones aren’t administered, the risk of death increases.

However, this is not the case for all illnesses, so it is crucial to preserve antibiotics for conditions that really need them. For example, nearly 40% of E.coli, the bacteria that causes a huge number of infections, are now resistant to antibiotics, and these organisms account for up to one third of sepsis cases, showing the vital need for responsible use of antimicrobials.

The Global Sepsis Alliance and the World Sepsis Day Movement strongly believe that fighting sepsis with responsible use of antimicrobials and combating antimicrobial resistance can be achieved at the same time.

This is why we are planning on partnering with the WHO to bring you the ‘WSC Spotlight: Sepsis and Antimicrobial Resistance – An Existential Threat’ in early 2020 - stay tuned for more infos soon…

World Prematurity Day on 17 November is one of the most important days in the year to raise awareness of the challenges and burden of preterm birth globally.

The day was initiated by EFCNI and European parent organizations in 2008. In 2010, the US organization March of Dimes, the African organization LittleBigSouls, the Australian National Premmie Foundation, and EFCNI joined across continents to celebrate this special day.

Meanwhile, individuals and organizations from more than 100 countries join forces with activities, events, and commit to action to draw attention to the topic of preterm birth and improve the situation of preterm babies and their families.

This year, the global community celebrates World Prematurity Day under the motto: ‘Born too soon: providing the right care, at the right time, in the right place.’ Besides the color purple - which stands for sensitivity and exceptionality - the socksline has become the symbol for World Prematurity Day. The small pair of purple socks - framed by nine full-size baby socks - symbolizes: 1 in 10 babies is born preterm. Worldwide.

Babies born prematurely often have a weakened immune system, making them especially susceptible to sepsis.