 bill no  160 of 2015 the hospital-acquired infections (prevention, control and mandatory reporting) bill, 2015 byshri prem das rai, mpa billto provide for a comprehensive inspection control policy and antimicrobial stewardship programme for hospitals and other healthcare facilities to prevent and control the incidence of hospital-acquired infections, mandatory reporting system for such infections and for matters connected herewith be it enacted by parliament in the sixty-sixth year of the republic of india as follows:—1 (1) this act may be called the hospital-acquired infections (prevention, control and mandatory reporting) act, 2015short title, extent and commencement(2) it extends to the union territories only2 in this act, unless the context otherwise requires,—definitions(a) "committee" means the hospital-acquired infection advisory committee constituted under section 3;(b) "data" means any information submitted by a hospital or a healthcare facility to the central government;(c) "healthcare facility" means any general, critical care or specialized healthcare institute;5(d) "hospital-acquired infection" means any localized or systemic condition resulting from an adverse reaction due to the presence of an infectious agent or its toxin that occurs in a patient in a hospital or a healthcare facility; and(e) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this act103 (1) the central government shall, by notification in the official gazette, constitute a hospital-acquired infections advisory committeeconstitution of hospital- acquired infections advisory committee(2) the committee shall consist of a chairperson and such number of members, including experts from the medical profession, pharmacy, public health and health communities, as may be prescribed15(3) the chairperson and members of the committee shall be appointed by the central government in such manner, as may be prescribed(4) the salary and allowances payable to and other terms and conditions of service of the chairperson and members of the committee shall be such as may be prescribed(5) the committee shall have its headquarter at new delhi20(6) the committee may also set up offices at such conspicuous places with prior approval of the central government for carrying out the purposes of this act(7) the central government shall appoint such number of officers and staff, as may be necessary, for the efficient functioning of the committee4 the committee shall—functions of the committee25(a) advise the central government in preparation of an action plan for prevention,control and mandatory reporting of hospital-acquired infections;(b) define the criteria for determining healthcare facilities which shall be coveredunder this act;(c) evolve a system for mandatory reporting by hospitals and healthcare facilitiesof hospital-acquired infections;30(d) frame a comprehensive infection control policy to prevent hospital-acquiredinfections;(e) frame an antimicrobial stewardship programme to promote rational use ofantibiotics in hospitals and healthcare facilities;(f) suggest measures to address hospital-acquired infections;35(g) submit periodical reports on the extent, pattern and trends of hospitalacquired infections, in such form and manner, as may be prescribed;(h) recommend to the central government the penalties, which may be imposed on a hospital or a heathcare facility for non-compliance of the provisions of this act;40(i) create public awareness about effective measures to reduce the spread of infections in communities, hospitals and healthcare facilities; and(j) perform such other tasks as may be assigned to it by the central government for carrying out the purposes of this act 5 (1) the mandatory reporting system under clause (c) of section 4 shall include—(i) patient's diagnosis at the time of admission;mandatory reporting system(ii) specific infectious agents or toxins and site of each infection; (iii) clinical department or unit within the hospital or a healthcare facilitywhere the patient gets infected or is diagnosed with infection for the first time;5(iv) any relevant, specific, surgical, medical or diagnostic procedure performedduring admission;(v) data regarding implementation and evaluation of interventions to reducehospital-acquired infections; and(vi) any other informations deemed appropriate by the central government(2) the instructions under the mandatory reporting system shall be—10(i) based upon scientific evidence; and (ii) capable of being used and easily understood by the public including patients6 the central government shall provide adequate funds to the committee for carrying out the purposes of this actcentral government to provide adequate funds to the committee157 (1) every hospital and healthcare facility shall maintain a programme capable of identifying, tracking and mandatory reporting of, hospital-acquired infections, in such form and manner, as may be specified by the committeerole of hospitals and healthcare facilities(2) every hospital and healthcare facility shall submit data relating to prevention, control and mandatory reporting of hospital-acquired infections to the committee in such form and manner as may be prescribed20constitution of task force8 every hospital and healthcare facility shall constitute a task force to ensure effective implementation of the infection control policy framed by the committee under clause (d)  of section 49 every hospital and  healthcare facility shall formulate a  mechanism to ensure implementation of the antimicrobial stewardship programme framed by the committee to promote rational use of antibiotics25formulation an antimicrobial stewardship programme act to have overriding effect10 the provisions of this act shall have effect notwithstanding anything inconsistent therewith contained in any other law for the time being in force or in any instrument having effect by virtue of any law other than this actpower to make rules3011 (1) the central government may, by notification in official gazette, make rules for carrying out the purposes of this act35(2) every rule made under this act by the central government shall be laid as soon as may be after it is made, before each house of parliament, while it is in session, for a total period of thirty days which may be comprised in one session or two or more successive sessions, and if, before the expiry of the session immediately following the session or the successive sessions aforesaid, both the houses agree in making any modification in the rule or both houses agree that the rule should not be made, the rule shall thereafter have effect only in such modified form or be of no effect, as the case may be; so, however, that any such modification or annulment shall be without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under that rule statement of objects and reasonshospital-acquired infections are infections that patients acquire during the course of receiving treatment for other conditions in a hospital or in a healthcare facility hospitalacquired infections are global public health issues world health organization (who) suggests that hospital-acquired infections are the most frequent adverse events in healthcare delivery worldwide and at any given time, seven per cent and ten per cent patients in developed and developing countries, respectively, acquire  at least one hositpal-acquired infectionhospital-acquired infections are undesirable from the perspective of both the patient and the hospital and result in increased mortality, prolonged hospital stay, increased resistance to antimicrobials, increased recovery time and in some cases create long term disability the additional financial burden of cost attributable to these infections has serious financial implications for patients, particularly in view of low health insurance coverage in indiaat present, no national data is available on the prevalence of hospital-acquired infections in india the knowledge about prevalence of hospital-acquired infections in india comes from studies conducted in a few hospitals a report estimated that one in four patients admitted into hospitals in india developed hospital-acquired infections, compared to incidence of five to ten per cent in most developed nationslack of national surveillance system has hampered assessment of healthcare burden associated with hospital-acquired infections in india continued surveillance, effective infection control programmes, rational use of antibiotics and enhanced public awareness can reduce the incidence of hospital-acquired infections, improve patient care and help better prioritization of resourcesthe bill, therefore, seeks to provide, inter-alia, for the following measures—(a) constitution of hospital-acquired infection advisory committee to advise the central government in preparation of an action plan for the prevention, control and mandatory reporting of hospital-acquired infections;(b) mandatory reporting of hospital-acquired infections by every hospital and healthcare facility;(c) constitution of a task force in every hospital and healthcare facility to ensure effective implementation of infection control policy framed by the committee;(d) antimicrobial stewardship programme to promote rational use of antibiotics;and(e) creation of public awareness about effective measures to reduce the spread of infections in communities, hospitals and healthcare facilities hence this bill financial memorandumclause 3 of the bill provides for constitution of a hospital-acquired infections advisory committee for the prevention, control and mandatory reporting of hospital-acquired infections in hospitals and health facilities clause 4 provides, inter-alia, that the committee shall create public awareness about effective measures to reduce the spread of infections in communities, hospitals and healthcare facilities clause 6 provides that the central government shall provide adequate funds to the committee for carrying out the purposes of this act clause 7 provides that every hospital and healthcare facility shall maintain a programme capable of identifying, tracking and mandatory reporting of hospital-acquired infections and submit data relating to prevention, control and mandatory reporting of hospitalacquired infections to the committee clause 8 provides for constitution of a task force by every hospital and healthcare facility to ensure effective implementation of infection control policy prepared by the committee the bill, therefore, if enacted, will involve expenditure from the consolidated fund of india it is estimated that a recurring expenditure of rupees five hundred crore per annum would be involveda non-recurring expenditure of about rupees five hundred crore is also likely to be involved memorandum regarding delegated legislationclause 11 of the bill empowers the central government to make rules for carrying out the purposes of the bill as the rules will relate to matters of detail only, the delegation of legislative powers is of a normal character———— a billto provide for a comprehensive inspection control policy and antimicrobial stewardshipprogramme for hospitals and other healthcare facilities to prevent and control theincidence of hospital-acquired infections, mandatory reporting system forsuch infections and for matters connected herewith————(shri prem das rai, mp)