E-DRUG: New paper - Antimicrobial use across six referral hospitals in Tanzania
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear e-drug members,
We would like to share with you the findings of antimicrobial use across
six referral hospitals in Tanzania published in BMJ Open
https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/10/12/e042819
Two key findings:
- Children less than 2 years of age or being admitted to surgical and
paediatric wards had increased odds of being prescribed antibiotics. These
groups should be prioritised in the mitigation strategies for antibiotic
stewardship.
- Lack of utilisation of antimicrobial susceptibility testing services in
these hospitals is worrisome and requires urgent interventions.
Our work on assessing antimicrobial use has addressed one of the five
strategic objectives of the Tanzania National Action Plan on Antimicrobial
resistance (2017-2022) and has created benchmarking information to guide
antimicrobial stewardship programs. In addition, this work contributes to
the WHO International Health Regulations Benchmark 3.4 on optimising use of
antimicrobials which recommended that member states monitor antimicrobial
use, among other AMS activities, in designated health facilities to reach
capacity level 3.
The study was led by the United Republic of Tanzania's Ministry of Health,
Community Development, Gender, Elderly, and Children in partnership with
the USAID MTaPS program and its global expert partner, the University of
Washington, Seattle along with the Catholic University of Health and Allied
Sciences, Mwanza, Tanzania.
Please find the link to the publication here:
https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/10/12/e042819
Best regards,
Timothe Chevaux
Strategic Communications Consultant
E-mail: tchevaux-consultant@msh.org