This online infection prevention course is designed to help health care providers (including doctors, medical officers, nurses, midwives, and medical/surgical assistants), supervisors of health care facilities, and medical/nursing students develop or strengthen their ability to protect themselves, their clients, and members of the surrounding community from infections. The internationally accepted practices covered in this course use low-tech approaches that are practical, simple, easy to use, and generally inexpensive.

Topics covered in this course:

• Disease transmission
• Handwashing
• Gloving
• Aseptic technique
• Surgical scrub and surgical attire
• Use and disposal of needles and other sharps
• Instrument processing (including decontamination, cleaning, sterilization and high-level disinfection, and storage)
• Housekeeping
• Waste disposal

Although the information provided in this course is applicable to any facility, this course is geared toward staff who work in low-resource settings. For this pilot version of this course, participants should be highly literate in English and should be highly motivated to participate in this course. Ideally, participants should be working or preparing to work in a health facility in a developing world country. Wherever possible, we have attempted to provide guidance for the lowest-cost methods of infection prevention and have provided alternatives for facilities that may experience frequent power outages or may be without running water and other basic supplies.