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Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) constitute a major threat to patient safety and affect hundreds of millions of people worldwide. The World Health Organization in 2016 published guidelines on the core components for infection prevention and control (IPC) programme. This was in response to a global call for focused action. The purpose of this paper is to examine and promote understanding of the tenets of the IPC guidelines and highlight their implications for implementation in low-income countries.

Drawing from personal experiences in leading the implementation of health programmes as well as a review of published and grey literature on IPC, authors discussed and proposed practical approaches to implement IPC priorities in low-income setting.

Availability of locally generated evidence is paramount to guide strengthening leadership and institutionalisation of IPC programmes. Preventing infections is everybody’s responsibility and should be viewed as such and accorded the required attention.

Drawing from recent experiences from disease outbreaks and given the heavy burden of HAIs especially in low-income settings, this paper highlights practical approaches to guide implementation of the major components of IPC.