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I nfection control in the dental set- ting is a fundamental topic in terms of patient safety and regulatory compliance. However in a European context, it is very difficult to have a consensus across the member states as each country has their own directives. This is where the Association for European Safety & Infection Control in Dentistry (AESIC) comes in. Recently established, AESIC is a European or- ganisation for information on infection prevention, infection control and hy- giene within dentistry. The AESIC mis- sion statement is to be the leading Eu- ropean source of information on safety, infection prevention and infection con- trol for academia, corporations, policy- makers and clinicians alike. Even though the organisation is still in its infancy, it is bringing together the leading minds in the arena of infection control to campaign for consistency in infection control policy across the Eu- ropean member states. One such mind is Mikael Zimmerman, one of the fore- most academics behind quality assur- ance in Swedish dentistry. He is the author of more than 50 papers on cross infection control and has on several oc- casions been an advisor to the Swedish Foreign Ministry on hygiene and infec- tion control. Mikael has also worked as advisor to the Swedish Armed Forces in the development of the new Medical Care System to be used by The Nordic Battle Group. Speaking to Dental Tribune about the founding of AESIC, Mikael was very pleased with how the organisation was shaping up: “We have been talking about the need for a European organi- sation to focus on infection control for several years – we have been meeting and talking to industrial companies and academics about the idea for a while. Infectious diseases are a very big issue and healthcare associated infections are a big issue. And maybe the biggest issue of all is the develop- ment antibiotic resistance and we have a lot of European norms giving us in- formation about what infection control ought to be in all 27 member countries. And although we have many common norms and directives, there are also 27 different national recommendations. “It’s a bit strange that we can’t get Europeancountriestoworktogetheron the issue of infection control and anti- biotic resistance so we thought that AESIC was a good idea to get some commongroundwherecanwestartthe discussion – what do we agree about?” Mikael calls AESIC an ‘interimistic’ association as although it now exists, AESIC won’t be fully established until its first meeting in Leeds on November 18th, where a board will be elected. Mikael said: “So far it has been a lot of practical issues such as founding the association, getting bank accounts in place and attracting members, trying to figure out how to work with other associations, setting up the website and e-newsletter system... things like that.” The plan for AESIC is that it will be an all-inclusive community for den- tal professionals and manufacturers across Europe to come together and have a place to be able to discuss issues surrounding infection control. “We want to include everybody concerned with infection control who works within the dental team. At the moment we are targeting mainly dental profes- sionals, the unique thing is to get users, producers, academics and those work- ing in a regulatory capacity to come together and work with each other to contribute towards the best practice for infection control. “It is a common issue for all of us and at the centre of it is the patient. All of us should be working together to get everything as safe and as good as we can for the patient.” To get the association off the ground, AESIC has eight founding members from dental industry: • Dürr Dental AG • Henry Schein • Hu-Friedy Manufacturing BV • Nitram Dental a/s • SciCan GmbH • Schülke + • Smile-On Ltd • W&H Buerrmoos GmbH With this in place, it has allowed AESIC to find other partners as well as being the recruitment process for members. To help with this all of the eight founding members will receive a specific number of free member- ship places to distribute to customers, partners and anyone who could both benefit from and participate to the or- ganisation. Mikael told DT about the various events and means of communication AESIC is setting up for members: “We have established our website – www. aesic.eu. Our plan for that is that it will be the number one resource for infor- mation and advice for infection con- trol for everyone involved in dentistry across Europe. “We have also established an e- newsletter - it’s still in its very early stages, but we have had good feedback from subscribers so we know we are going in the right direction.” Mikael added: “The most impor- tant thing though this year is the meet- ing in November: we are planning on top of meeting to establish a board and formulate a constitution that we will run a one-day conference with a clin- ically-orientated topic for one half and a more industrial aspect for the other half of the day. Of course both of them will focus on getting the very best for the patient. We will try to bring in key opinion leaders and discuss what is the state of the art in infection control and where do we need to go further.” To find out more about AESIC and to become a member, go to www.aesic.eu. DT European view on infection control InfectIon control trIbune Dental Tribune looks at AESIC, a new organisation focusing on infection con- trol, and speaks to one of the founding members about its aims and aspirations PROBLEM... BDA Advice Sheet A12,“Infection Control in Dentistry” states“ Alcohol… …binds to blood protein and stainless steel; it should therefore be avoided” ...SOLUTION Continu is an alcohol free water based disinfectant that achieves a 99.998% reduction in harmful micro-organisms within 30 seconds and is available as wipes or spray PROBLEM... For Hand Washing, HTM 01-05 requires that“wall mounted liquid hand wash dispensers with disposable cartridges should be used... Refillable hand wash containers should not be used” ...SOLUTION Continu alcohol free hand wash and sanitising foam products are now available in sealed disposable cartridges and wall mounted dispensers to comply with HTM 01-05 but unlike alcohol based alternatives they are very kind to skin PROBLEM... 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Continu - the next generation of ultra-effective, ultra- safe and environmentally friendly HTM 01-05 compliant anti-microbial disinfectants from Nuview For further information contact Mike Loftus. Nuview Ltd, Vine House, Selsley Road, North Woodchester, Gloucestershire, GL5 5NN UK. Tel: +44 (0) 1453 872266 Fax: +44 (0) 1453 872288 Email: continu@nuview-ltd.com Web: www.voroscopes.co.uk Are your disinfection solutions HTM 01-05 compliant? Infection Control TribuneInfection Control Tribune pages 14-15 Kathy Porter describes common cross infection threats in a dental setting Eliminating risk pages 17-18 Richard Musgrave discusses the importance of minimising instances of cross infection Battle strategy pages 19-20 Dave Gibson looks at creating a completely de- contaminated environment in the surgery Implementing IC systems Infection Control Tribune