Vision

Every nation has a functioning infection control organization

Mission

IFIC provides the essential tools, education materials and communication that unite the existing Infection Control societies and foster development of Infection Control organizations where they are needed

International Federation of Infection Control

The International Federation of Infection Control (UK Charity No 1072681, Company No 02980306) is an umbrella organisation of societies and associations of healthcare professionals in infection control and related fields worldwide. The goal of IFIC is to minimise the risk of infection within the healthcare setting world-wide through development of a network of infection control organisations for communication, consensus building, education and sharing expertise.

Founding of IFIC

For many years the annual meetings of the Infection Prevention Society of the UK ( IPS ) and the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology ( APIC ) in the US have attracted infection control professionals from around the world. These meetings were found to be valuable for making international contacts and ultimately interest developed for formalising such contacts. As a result of networking between infection control professionals from the UK , the US , Canada , Den mark , Sweden and the Netherlands , an international conference entitled The Role of the Infection Control Nurse in the Surveillance, Prevention and Control of Hospital Associated Infections was held in 1978 at the European office of the World Health Organisation in Copenhagen , Denmark . At the close of the conference, consensus was reached for establishing a multi-disciplinary, international association for the control of hospital-associated infections. This was the major first step toward the establishment of the International Federation of Infection Control. IFIC was officially inaugurated as a multidisciplinary organization in 1987

Membership

Membership in IFIC is extended to societies of healthcare professionals in infection control and related fields in countries throughout the world. The organisations that join IFIC are then called member societies . Currently IFIC has 66 members from 51 countries. Individuals in countries without infection control societies or associations that are not formally constituted may become associate members of IFIC at a reduced membership fee. IFIC also has patron members : persons, firms or companies which, whilst they have an interest in or concern about Infection Control, are commercial organisations. The patron members may on agreement contribute to IFIC activities such as conferences and publications but are not entitled to vote.

IFIC Board

The IFIC board has ten members: Chair, Treasurer, Honorary Secretary, Editor and six Directors. IFIC member societies nominate one of their members to a vacant position on the IFIC board as needed and financially support that person for their 4 year term of office. The Board meets twice a year in person and by teleconference as necessary.

IFIC Publications

• The IFIC web site provides information about IFIC goals and activities and is a forum for networking with organizations, agencies and IFIC corporate sponsors. On the website, current IFIC publications are available for reading or downloading along with Information Resources in Infection Control and IFIC educational booklets.

• The IFIC Bulletin is published twice per year. The aim is to provide a forum for member societies to share information and activities and to provide observers with articles on infection control practice. It is distributed without charge to member societies as well as to a large number of observers and it may be freely copied and distributed. The IFIC Bulletin is currently in the process of evolving into tthe International Journal of Infection Control, the IJIC. The IJIC will provide a forum for scientific discussion on IC issues with a view to best practice with limited resources.

• IFIC's basic infection control manual Infection Control: Basic Concepts and Training is authored by experts on infection control and is now in its 2 nd edition. The intent of the manual is to provide a foundation of scientifically basic infection control principles and requirements. The advantage of this document is that it is not connected to any country's legal regulations or traditions and therefore it transcends national boundaries. The booklet has been translated into Arabic, Chinese, Croatian, French, Lithuanian, Russian, Serbian, Spanish and Thai languages. The 3 rd edition, which is in preparation, will also contain selected references and be accompanied by sets of teaching slides.

• Information resources in Infection Control . The aim of the IFIC Information Resources in Infection Control is to provide key references, publications and website addresses to infection control practitioners worldwide. The booklet is updated on an annual basis and the 3rd edition will be published as a supplement to International Journal of Infection Control.

IFIC Conferences

The first IFIC conference was held independently of other societies' in Cambridge , UK in 1997. The second conference was held in George , South Africa in 1999. Since then, most IFIC meetings have been held jointly with member societies. The IFIC conferences are characterised by the generous amount of time allotted to discussions and workshops with considerable interaction between the audience and invited experts. IFIC conferences are international in scope, with lecturers and participants from all over the world.

IFIC Scholarships

Due to generous donations from member societies, patron members and individuals, IFIC has in recent years been able to sponsor young, scientifically active IC practitioners to come to the IFIC conferences and hope to expand this activity.

Future challenges

Research on economical and effective infection prevention strategies is sparse. With grant support from industry and foundations, IFIC plans to conduct several research projects that will clarify issues related to infection control practices in underserved regions of the world. IFIC is increasing its membership and also increasing the magnitude and scope of its work.