Context

During the ICCI Supportive Care taskforce meeting held in July 2023, members identified an urgent need for practical tools to improve the early recognition and timely management of fever among children with cancer, a critical component of supportive care.

Purpose

To develop an easy-to-use, patient-friendly resource that empowers families and healthcare providers to take timely and appropriate action during fever emergencies, thereby reducing treatment-related complications.

What We Have Done

An Emergency Fever Card has been developed to guide patients, caregivers, and healthcare providers in managing fever episodes. The draft card was circulated among experts, and 33 responses were received. Feedback and recommendations were carefully reviewed and incorporated into the final design to ensure clarity and effectiveness.

Next Steps

The finalized Fever Card will be shared with hospitals for distribution to patients and caregivers, enabling prompt response to fever episodes and improving supportive care outcomes. The card will be shared in an editable format to enable customization for centres.

Context & Purpose

Infection prevention and control (IPC) is a critical component of pediatric oncology care, as infections remain one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality among children undergoing cancer treatment. To strengthen infection control practices across Indian pediatric oncology centre institutions, a collaborative effort was initiated between the ICCI Supportive Care Taskforce and the St. Jude Global Infectious Disease Program (GIDP).

Purpose

The initiative aimed to improve infection prevention and control practices in Pediatric Oncology Units (POUs) through a Training of Trainers (ToT) model. The objectives were to help build institutional capacity by equipping healthcare providers with essential IPC skills, hand hygiene, safe vascular access, standard and transmission-based precautions, and blood cultures and antimicrobial susceptibility (IPC Essentials) and to enable replication of this training within the institutions of the workshop participants.

Conducted the Pediatric Cancer Registry Data Meeting and CRC Workshop (January 31–February 1, 2025) in Chennai, attended by over 150 delegates, including 18 CRCs and 8 faculty members. (Attached)

What We Have Done

A three day IPC Essentials Training Workshop was conducted from 11th to 13th September 2025 at Tata Medical Center, Kolkata. The workshop was attended by 53 participants representing multiple institutions across several Indian states, including pediatric oncologists, general pediatricians, nurses (IPC and oncology), and other healthcare workers.

Key activities included

• Reviewing the IPC Essentials educational needs assessment survey.
• Evaluating training materials, lectures, and interactive sessions to build a comprehensive educational curriculum.
• Discussing the Theory of Change as a framework for implementing IPC training at institutional levels.
• Reviewing results from the Hand Hygiene Self-Assessment Framework (HHSAF) survey.
• Conducting interactive sessions to strengthen participants’ capacity as trainers and educational leaders.

Next Steps

• Participants will replicate the IPC Essentials training within their respective POUs.
• The ICCI-GIDP Working Group will continue engagement with trained institutions to support implementation and monitor outcomes, as well as to develop systematic learning modules on the Cure4Kids website for further training.
• Future efforts will include developing institution-specific IPC action plans, strengthening follow-up assessments, and expanding the IPC Essentials Training Program to additional ICCI centers across India.

Infection prevention and control (IPC) plays a crucial role in pediatric oncology care, as infections remain a major contributor to illness and mortality among children undergoing cancer treatment. Recognizing this need, ICCI Supportive Care Taskforce in collaboration with St. Jude Global Infectious Disease Program (GIDP) has initiated a program to strengthen IPC practices across pediatric oncology centres in India.

This initiative is designed to enhance infection control practices in Pediatric Oncology Units (POUs) using a Training of Trainers (ToT) approach. The program focuses on building institutional capacity by training healthcare professionals in core IPC areas such as hand hygiene, safe vascular access, standard and transmission-based precautions, blood culture practices, and antimicrobial susceptibility testing (IPC Essentials). A key objective is to enable participants to replicate and sustain this training within their own institutions.

To support this effort, ICCI has developed a set of educational modules for pediatric oncology nurses, physicians and clinical leaders. These modules are intended to minimize infection related risks and enhance patient outcomes in Pediatric Oncology Units. The training materials can be accessed through the link provided below.

Google Drive Link - Infection Prevention and Control Education Modules