Copper and Public Health Conference, Athens
Eight presentations from the Hellenic Copper Development Centre organised Infection Control Event, Athens, 2008.
The first global congress on copper's role in fighting
healthcare associated infections took place in Athens in November
2008. Leading scientists from around the world presented the
scientific evidence supporting the case for incorporating copper
surfaces into healthcare environments to help reduce the risk of
infection and to protect public health. Videos of all
presentations are available - please follow the Session links
below.
The conference featured international experts from the UK, US,
Germany and Greece, representing the disciplines of infection
control, pathology, microbiology, hospital design, metallurgy and
engineering.
Presentations covered the problem of hospital-acquired
infections - the organisms and the number of infections and deaths,
the role of the environment in transmission of infection, the
broad-spectrum antimicrobial efficacy of copper, the US EPA
registration of copper as an antimicrobial material, practical
considerations for producing copper products and architectural
considerations for incorporating copper into hospital design.
One of the highlights of the conference was a live videolink to
Professor Tom Elliott, who presented the first results from the
Selly Oak clinical trial which showed that, on a busy medical ward,
copper taps, toilet seats and door handles had 90-100% fewer
micro-organisms on their surfaces than their controls.
SESSION 1 - Healthcare associated infections - the
problem
SESSION 2 - Copper's role in fighting healthcare-associated
infections - the science
SESSION 3 - Practical aspects of incorporating copper surfaces in
the clinical environment