Every year on May 5th, the World Health Organization (WHO) – in partnership with national governments and global health players – marks World Hand Hygiene Day, emphasizing the critical role of hand hygiene in preventing infections, including sepsis.

The Global Sepsis Alliance supports the WHO’s campaign and this year’s slogan, "Why is sharing knowledge about hand hygiene still so important?” Because it helps stop the spread of harmful germs in healthcare. We reiterate that hand hygiene plays a critical role in the prevention of infections, and therefore of sepsis, both in community and healthcare settings.

The World Hand Hygiene Day 2024 campaign promotes knowledge and capacity building of health and care workers through innovative and impactful training and education, on infection prevention and control, including hand hygiene.

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Save-the-date for “WHO Infection Prevention and Control Global Webinar”

As part of this critically important campaign, the World Health Organization (WHO) will host the “WHO Infection Prevention and Control Global Webinar” on May 6th, from 2:00 PM to 3:30 PM CEST.

We invite all healthcare professionals, caregivers, policymakers, and other stakeholders to participate in the webinar and address hand hygiene, infection prevention and control, and sepsis holistically as pillars of a coordinated strategy.

We encourage you and your organization to support World Hand Hygiene Day and prevent sepsis at the healthcare and community levels.

For more information about the campaign and the webinar please see the links and documents below.

In the official video address to the 12,000 delegates of the 2024 World Sepsis Congress Spotlight: "Unmet Need in Sepsis Diagnosis and Therapy," Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), delivered a powerful message:

“Nobody should die from sepsis.”

— Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General World Health Organization

In his statement to the Congress delegates from 180 countries Dr. Tedros underscored the critical need for unified action against sepsis, which remains a cause of 1 in every 5 deaths and affects 48.9 million children, women, and men worldwide annually.

He specifically highlighted that sepsis is mostly preventable. Indeed, millions of sepsis-related deaths can be prevented through effective infection prevention and control, early diagnosis, and time-sensitive antimicrobial and other therapies.

The Global Sepsis Alliance is grateful to the Director-General of WHO for his unwavering support in the global fight against sepsis.

The Alliance looks forward to stronger concerted collaboration with WHO, Member States, and multiple stakeholders for reinvigorating the global action on sepsis and launching the 2030 Global Agenda for Sepsis, as the first comprehensive multi-year strategy.

We will continue efforts for stronger positioning of sepsis in the mainstream of the global health architecture, national health policies, and programs, and scaling up the implementation of the 2017 WHA70.7 Resolution on Sepsis.

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About WORLD SEPSIS CONGRESS AND WSC SPOTLIGHT

BRINGING KNOWLEDGE ABOUT SEPSIS TO ALL PARTS OF THE WORLD

In 2016, the Global Sepsis Alliance established World Sepsis Congress, a free online congress covering all aspects of sepsis. In 2017, the GSA established World Sepsis Congress Spotlight, a smaller satellite congress shining a spotlight on one particular issue of sepsis.

This years’ WSC Spotlight featured 9 distinctive sessions, in which globally renowned clinicians, researchers, experts, and thought leaders covered the need for early diagnosis and treatment of sepsis in surgical patients, data, AI, and predictive modeling in sepsis, how hypervolemia increases the mortality rate in sepsis, the role of biomarkers, detecting sepsis in ventilated patients, pediatric sepsis, including the new ‘Phoenix Criteria’, as well as personalized approaches to sepsis management.

All sessions have been recorded and will be available on our YouTube Channel and as a podcast, starting with the Opening Session on Tuesday, May 7, 2024.

Dear Congress participants,

First of all, we would like to thank each of you for being part of the 2024 World Sepsis Congress Spotlight that the Global Sepsis Alliance (GSA) convened on April 23 in partnership with the Physician-Patient Alliance for Health & Safety (PPAHS).

We were delighted to have over 12,000 registered participants from more than 180 countries worldwide and honored by 55 prominent policymakers, researchers, and practitioners in the field of sepsis as the moderators and speakers of the event.

Support from the Director-General of the World Health Organization in his official address to the Congress participants reassures that we are building strong momentum for taking the global fight against sepsis to the next level.

We look forward to finalizing the 2030 Global Agenda for Sepsis as our future framework of action on making sepsis the next success story of Global Health and reducing the immense human suffering from this medical emergency.  

We would like to confirm the schedule when you will be able to receive the Certificates of Attendance and the Certificates with official CME Credits for the event.

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Recordings of the Sessions

All 2024 World Sepsis Congress Spotlight sessions have been recorded and will be available on YouTube and as a podcast over the next weeks.

We will release the recordings weekly on Tuesdays, starting from May 7, 2024, with the recording of the event's Opening Session. Recordings of the subsequent 8 scientific sessions will be available as follows:

• S1: Opening Session: The Renewed Global Agenda for Sepsis – Tuesday, May 7, 2024

• S2: The Need for Early Diagnosis and Treatment of Sepsis in Surgical Patients – Tuesday, May 14, 2024

• S3: Data, AI, and Predictive Modeling in Sepsis – Tuesday, May 21, 2024

• S4: How Does Hypervolemia Increase the Mortality Risk in Sepsis? – Tuesday, May 28, 2024

• S5: The Role of Biomarkers in the Early Detection of Sepsis – Tuesday, June 4, 2024

• S6: Detecting Sepsis in the Ventilated Patient – Tuesday, June 11, 2024

• S7: Closing the Needs in Pediatric Sepsis – Tuesday, June 18, 2024

• S8: Personalized Approaches to Sepsis Management – Tuesday, June 25, 2024

• S9: Challenges and Solutions for Early Recognition and Treatment of Sepsis – Tuesday, July 2, 2024

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Certificates of Attendance

Your Certificates of Attendance will also be available on May 7 and you may obtain the document immediately.

Kindly note that the Certificates of Attendance will not include CME credits, as the CME accreditation requires additional time for relevant procedures. If you are interested in CME credits, please read the following section. 

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CME Credits

Our partner organization – the Physician-Patient Alliance for Health & Safety – has already started official procedures for CME accreditation of the scientific sessions.

We are also delighted to note that thanks to the efforts of the PPAHS, CME credits for the 2024 World Sepsis Congress Spotlight will be issued free of charge. PPAHS would like to thank Inflammatix, Inc. for their unrestricted educational grant. Because of grants from Inflammatix and others, PPAHS can provide quality clinical educational content and offer CME for these courses for free.

The accreditation process is expected to be completed in 4 to 6 weeks and your certificates of the CME Credits will accordingly be available in late May or early June. 

Once the accreditation process is complete, the PPAHS will post the recordings of the sessions for CME accreditation to their official website.

Kindly note that even if you have attended session(s) of the WSC Spotlight or watched/listened to them on YouTube or as a podcast, to obtain CME credits, you must review the recordings of all relevant CME-accredited sessions of the 2024 WSC Spotlight through the official webpage of the PPAHS.

Pediatric sepsis remains a critical issue, affecting 20.3 million children every year.

This week serves as a reminder of the importance of prevention, early detection, and time-critical treatment to avert 2.9 million deaths among children.

In recognition of Pediatric Sepsis Week 2024, a campaign launched five years ago by the Sepsis Alliance, we invite you to participate in two pivotal events aimed at raising awareness and improving care for pediatric sepsis.

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“Best Sepsis Care for Our Children – A National Forum” – in Australia

Hosted by Sepsis Australia, The George Institute for Global Health, and the Queensland Pediatric Sepsis Program, this virtual forum will bring together experts to discuss critical topics such as Sepsis Mortality, Sepsis Pathways, and Parental Concern. The event, which will be held on April 24 from 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm AEST, provides a platform for collaboration and knowledge sharing.

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For Healthcare Professionals

“Advancements in Pediatric Sepsis Diagnosis: Introducing the Phoenix Sepsis Score” – in the US

Presented by the Sepsis Alliance Institute, this webinar will introduce the Phoenix Sepsis Criteria, a groundbreaking development in pediatric sepsis diagnosis. Join the webinar on April 24 from 2:00 pm to 3:00 pm ET / 11:00 am to 12:00 pm PT to learn about the development of the pediatric sepsis criteria and its potential impact on clinical practice.

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These events represent a collective effort to promote the Pediatric Sepsis Week initiative and address the urgent need for improved awareness, diagnosis, and treatment of Sepsis in children. Register now to participate.

The Global Sepsis Alliance is proud to support our Australian and American colleagues in their initiatives for the 2024 Pediatric Sepsis Week and beyond.

The first session of the 2024 World Sepsis Congress Spotlight is now live:

Participating in the 2024 WSC Spotlight is incredibly easy – click on the button above and enter your email if you are registered already. If not, register for the congress here before joining the livestream.

Pro tip: If you can’t make it next week, just register anyway and we will send you the links to the recordings once available.

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About the 2024 WSC Spotlight

Throughout 9 distinctive sessions, globally renowned clinicians, researchers, experts, and thought leaders will cover the need for early diagnosis and treatment of sepsis in surgical patients, data, AI, and predictive modeling in sepsis, how hypervolemia increases the mortality rate in sepsis, the role of biomarkers, detecting sepsis in ventilated patients, pediatric sepsis, including the new ‘Phoenix Criteria’, as well as personalized approaches to sepsis management.

This free online congress is designed for healthcare workers, healthcare providers and funders, healthcare authorities, policymakers, patient families, survivors, and industry professionals.

Don't miss this opportunity to gain insights and knowledge from the world's leading sepsis experts. Register now and be part of this global effort to improve sepsis outcomes for patients everywhere. For more information on the program, speakers, and time zones, and to register for free, please visit wscspotlight.org.

The 2024 World Sepsis Congress Spotlight is almost here – starting Tuesday, April 23 at 09:00h Central European Summer Time, free of charge and entirely online.

Participating in the 2024 WSC Spotlight is incredibly easy – just click on the button below and enter your email if you are registered already. If not, simply register for the congress here before joining the livestream.

Pro tip: If you can’t make it next week, just register anyway and we will send you the links to the recordings once available.

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About the 2024 WSC Spotlight

Throughout 9 distinctive sessions, globally renowned clinicians, researchers, experts, and thought leaders will cover the need for early diagnosis and treatment of sepsis in surgical patients, data, AI, and predictive modeling in sepsis, how hypervolemia increases the mortality rate in sepsis, the role of biomarkers, detecting sepsis in ventilated patients, pediatric sepsis, including the new ‘Phoenix Criteria’, as well as personalized approaches to sepsis management.

This free online congress is designed for healthcare workers, healthcare providers and funders, healthcare authorities, policymakers, patient families, survivors, and industry professionals.

Don't miss this opportunity to gain insights and knowledge from the world's leading sepsis experts. Register now and be part of this global effort to improve sepsis outcomes for patients everywhere. For more information on the program, speakers, and time zones, and to register for free, please visit wscspotlight.org.

We are excited to announce a significant advance in the fight against sepsis: a landmark $3 million allocation to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for sepsis initiatives, secured in the FY24 Congressional Budget of the United States. This historic funding, the largest ever directly dedicated to sepsis, underscores a pivotal moment in federal commitment toward combating this life-threatening condition. We want to extend our gratitude to the team at END SEPSIS, founded in 2012 by Ciaran and Orlaith Staunton following the undiagnosed, untreated, and preventable death of their 12-year-old son Rory from sepsis, for their tireless advocacy to ensure that sepsis is prioritized at the federal level.

Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) has strongly advocated for strategic funding deployment for sepsis, now recognized as a public health crisis. The funding will integrate essential sepsis data into the National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN), allowing for more effective evaluation of sepsis care standards (Sepsis Core Elements) across healthcare facilities. This initiative aims to improve the CDC's sepsis care protocols, promote public-private collaborations, and assist in creating specific quality measures for adult and pediatric sepsis care in conjunction with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).

This allocation represents a leap forward in sepsis management and prevention and sets a precedent for future federal support and initiatives. We take this achievement as validation that effort and dedication are worthwhile, and we are even more motivated to build on this momentum, advocate for continued investment, and drive global efforts to reduce the burden of sepsis.

Together, we are on a path to significantly impact sepsis outcomes – a true example of what we can achieve when we collaborate to advocate in the ongoing fight against sepsis and a blueprint for other countries worldwide to follow.

We are excited to announce that we will offer CME credits for the 2024 WSC Spotlight – if that doesn’t convince you to register, we are not sure what will… Besides the fact that it’s free of charge, fully virtual, and we have an amazing line-up of over 55 speakers and moderators presenting on many areas of sepsis.

What are you waiting for? The 2024 World Sepsis Congress Spotlight takes place next week, on Tuesday, April 23, 2024, and you can join for free from wherever you have an internet connection.

Pro tip: If you can’t make it next week, just register anyway and we will send you the links to the recordings once available.