Sepsis accounts for 1 in five deaths globally: WHO chief
Sep 13, 2023
Geneva [Switzerland], September 13 : On World Sepsis Day, Director General of World Health Organisation (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said that WHO is committed to addressing Sepsis as a global threat.
To observe World Sepsis Day, Tedros shared a video on X, captioned, “#Sepsis accounts for nearly 1 in 5 deaths globally, including children. We know these deaths can be avoided, through vaccines, rapid diagnostics and timely access to appropriate and effective treatments. We call on all countries to take serious action. #HealthForAll.”
“Sepsis accounts for nearly one in five deaths globally, and 85 per cent of Sepsis cases and deaths are in low and middle-income countries,” said Tedros in a short video message.
He added that children under five years of age are among the most affected, but these deaths can be avoided through vaccines, rapid diagnostics, and timely access to appropriate and effective treatment.
“WHO is committed to addressing Sepsis as a global threat. Six years ago, our member states adopted the first global resolution on Sepsis. This year's, World Health Assembly adopted a resolution on emergency, critical and operative care, as well as a global strategy on infection prevention and control,” Tedros said.
The WHO chief also said that next year, “WHO will launch new guidelines on Sepsis prevention and management, including prevention of bloodstream infections.”
“The challenge we all face now is to turn guidelines into action. So we welcome the focus of this year's World Sepsis Day event on implementing the WHO Sepsis resolution nationally and globally,” he added.
Sepsis is a leading cause of hospitalisation and death worldwide. Each year in the US, about 1.7 million people develop sepsis, an extreme immune response to an infection in the bloodstream that can spread throughout the whole body and lead to organ failure and possibly death.
