New guide on antimicrobial stewardship interventions prioritizes action on drug-resistant pathogens
WHO/Europe has released a new practical guide for antimicrobial stewardship, laying out ways to improve how antibiotics are used in health-care settings.
Antimicrobial resistance may fly under the radar as a health crisis for many, but WHO has declared it one of the top 10 global public health threats facing humanity. It occurs when microorganisms develop resistance to medicines that are relied upon for treatment, making some conditions difficult or impossible to cure.
Around the world, we depend on antimicrobial drugs, such as antibiotics, to deal with infections, prevent serious illness and save lives. The increasing occurrence of drug-resistant infections therefore demands serious attention. By pushing ahead with dedicated programmes and well-informed interventions, health professionals and health-care administrators alike can protect the power of antimicrobials and ensure the best treatment for their patients. These interventions fall under the umbrella term of “antimicrobial stewardship”, which can be implemented together with infection control measures, like handwashing, to reduce misuse and overuse of these life-saving drugs.
The best interventions at the right time
This publication takes health-care leaders through the top 10 interventions that can be implemented through a programmatic approach prior to, during and after prescription. The practical guide aims to help administrators, health-care leaders and frontline clinicians to select effective interventions that can work to safeguard the efficacy of antimicrobials in their particular setting.
Recommended interventions range from clinician and public education, institution-specific guidelines for the management of common infections, and audit and feedback following treatment. The guide also delves into prescribing – providing key information on antibiotic dose optimization and duration of treatment.
“Antimicrobial stewardship programmes are tried and tested methods to reduce misuse and overuse of antibiotics – one of the key drivers of antimicrobial resistance,” says Dr Nino Berdzuli, Director of the Division of Country Health Programmes, WHO/Europe. “Resistance to antimicrobial drugs is a serious public health concern, but we already know ways to address key drivers of the problem. We hope that this practical guide will allow health professionals to pick effective interventions that are known to improve the way antimicrobials are administered, and to understand which interventions are appropriate for their particular setting.”
The guide places a strong emphasis on implementation considerations and potential barriers, given that implementation often proves to be difficult. It sketches an overview of the risks and costs of each intervention, ensuring accessibility for health professionals in low-resource settings.
“Antimicrobial stewardship interventions: a practical guide”, sits against a backdrop of wider WHO action on antimicrobial resistance. In 2018, WHO/Europe launched an open online course on the topic to equip clinicians who commonly prescribe antimicrobials with knowledge and tools to improve the use of these vital medications in daily practice. The course now celebrates having over 50 000 subscribers from across all 6 WHO regions.
As more Member States push ahead with antimicrobial stewardship programmes, this is a timely guide to support the programmatic uptake of key stewardship interventions. Given the potentially lethal spread of antimicrobial resistance, protecting the impact of antimicrobial drugs is more urgent and more important than ever.
