Surgical site infections (SSIs) are among the healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) targeted by the national program to combat HAIs. Since 1999, a database has been established based on interregional surveillance networks as part of the national network for the early warning, investigation, and surveillance of healthcare-associated infections (Raisin). Each year, every participating surgical department in the surveillance network was required to include 200 surgical patients and collect individual data, including in particular the components of the NNIS risk index (operative time, ASA status, contamination class) and other perioperative factors. All included patients were to be followed up, if possible, through the 30th postoperative day. SIS were defined according to standard criteria. Among 620,176 surgical procedures monitored between 1999 and 2004, 10,349 SIS were identified (crude incidence rate: 1.7%), of which 42% were deep. The incidence of SIS varied with the NNIS risk index, ranging from 0.9% for low-risk patients to 14% for the highest-risk patients. For the most commonly monitored surgical procedures, the incidence of SIS ranged from 0.2% to 9.2% depending on the procedure. Over the study period, the incidence of SIs in the NNIS-0 group decreased significantly for certain procedures, such as abdominal wall hernias (-50%). SSI surveillance is now widespread in France and serves as an important tool for assessing infection risk in surgical patients, taking into account the type of procedure. The impact of the national program to combat healthcare-associated infections on SSI incidence has yet to be evaluated in detail, but encouraging results have been observed for certain procedures. (R.A.)