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Poor sanitation practices in Indonesian hospitals and health centers contributes to the high number of deaths in those institutions from infection, the health affairs minister said on Monday.

Health Minister Endang Rahayu Sedyaningsih said on Monday that sub-standard cleaning and sanitation practices leave many health care centers teeming with dangerous bacteria, putting patients, staff and visitors at risk of contracting potentially life-threatening infections.

“In advanced nations like the United States, the possibility of getting an infection at health care centers is only 1 percent,” she said during a seminar on the topic of patient safety and infection control. “But in Asia, including Indonesia, the possibility is as high as 40 percent.”

She pointed to one startling survey conducted by the Indonesian Society for Infection Control among doctors and nurses at Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital.

The survey found that just 60 percent of doctors and nurses regularly washed their hands before touching patients she said.

“This is input for doctors,” Endang said. “Doctors might be too busy or too confident, and assume that they’re clean.”

Chairul Rajab Nasution, the ministry’s director of health education, said that beginning in 2012 every hospital seeking government accreditation would have to implement an infection prevention and control program, which would oblige the institution to ensure certain sanitation and cleanliness standards were met.

The program would also compel hospitals and health care centers to adopt hand washing practices that met guidelines set by the World Health Organization.