Sterile Processing Education Charitable Trust

Can you imagine being operated on with surgical instruments that haven’t been properly cleaned or sterilized? This happens every day in healthcare facilities all around the world, leading to infection and death rather than healing and life.

SPECT is one of the only known charities training healthcare workers on sterile processing practices in low- and middle-income countries.

Founded in 2013 by Christina Fast, a skilled sterile processer and educator, SPECT has worked with over 150 healthcare facilities, training 500+ workers across Africa, Central America and South East Asia.

SPECT’s observational visits to the surgical areas of healthcare facilities in the Republic of the Congo and Guinea during 2011-2013 found sterilization areas housed an array of non-functioning sterilization equipment and staff demonstrated a lack of training and understanding of sterile processing standards and infection control practices. Surgical operating rooms lacked elemental hygiene. Laundry soap and bleach replaced broken or ill-functioning sterilizers as a means to “sterilize” instruments. Surgeons reported extremely high post-operative infection rates. The WHO (2008) highlighted the need to improve access to sterilization equipment and preoperative disinfectants. They also indicate that further study is needed on the use of sterilization equipment and processes.

SPECT is working to address this gap in global safe surgery.