Abstract
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a significant problem in global health today, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) where antimicrobial stewardship programmes are yet to be successfully implemented. We established a partnership between AMR pharmacists from a UK NHS hospital and in Ho Teaching Hospital with the aim of enhancing antimicrobial stewardship knowledge and practice among healthcare providers through an educational intervention. We employed a mixed-method approach that included an initial survey on knowledge and awareness before and after training, followed by qualitative interviews with healthcare providers conducted six months after delivery of training. This study was carried out in two phases in Ho Teaching Hospital with healthcare professionals, including pharmacists, medical doctors, nurses and medical laboratory scientists. Ethical approval was obtained prior to data collection. In the first phase, we surveyed 50 healthcare providers, including nurses (33%), pharmacists (29%) and biomedical scientists (23%). Of these, 58% of participants had engaged in continuous professional development on AMR/AMS, and above 95% demonstrated good knowledge on the general use of antibiotics. A total of 18 participants, which included four medical doctors, five pharmacists, four nurses, two midwives and three biomedical scientists, were interviewed in the second phase and demonstrated greater awareness of AMS practices, particularly the role of education for patients, as well as healthcare professionals. We found that knowledge and practice with AMS was markedly improved six months after the training session. There is limited practice of AMS in LMICs; however, through AMR-focused training, we demonstrated improved AMS skills and practice among healthcare providers in Ho Teaching Hospital. There is a need for continuous AMR training sessions for healthcare professionals in resource-limited settings.
Highlights
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a significant problem in global health today
This paper reports part of the activities and results of one of the partnerships of the University College London Hospital National Health Service (NHS) foundation trust (UCLH) with the University of Health and Allied Sciences (UHAS) and Ho Teaching Hospital, which are both in the Ho municipality in the Volta region of Ghana
The training generally increased knowledge about antibiotic use and AMR/Antimicrobial stewardship programmes (AMS), and it led to a better understanding of different aspects of antibiotics use, including the importance of proper patient education
Summary
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a significant problem in global health today. It is severe in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), where the burden of infectious diseases is much higher. Antimicrobial stewardship programmes (AMS) are designed to improve the use of antimicrobials, and they have been developed and implemented successfully with corresponding impacts in most high-income settings. In 2015, the WHO released a Global Action Plan with a combination of AMS interventions, and it is yet to be fully implemented and tested in most LMICs due to the lack of required resources [2]. There is an urgent need to identify practical strategies for supporting the delivery of AMS in these settings
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