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Antibiotic resistance is a growing concern in the Netherlands, where infections resistant to common antibiotics are increasingly challenging to treat. While antibiotics save lives, overuse and misuse are making it harder to fight infections effectively, putting patients at greater risk.
The most profit in the fight against antibiotic resistance can be gained from informing and sharing knowledge in this area. This is why colleagues at Radboudumc are committed to sharing their knowledge in this field across borders as well. We have been doing this for decades.
Masterclass
Last month, intensivist Jeroen Schouten, coordinator of the Drive-AMS program, was in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, together with colleagues Alma Tostmann and Edmee Bowles of the Radboud Community for Infectious Diseases (RCI), to give the master class Antimicrobial Stewardship and IPC Implementation. Muhimbili National Hospital, which recently signed another MoU (memorandum of understanding) with Radboudumc for collaboration in many areas, had taken on the organization of the course.
This course is part of the Drive-AMS program that aims to support hospitals worldwide in developing and implementing sustainable policies to promote antibiotic use and infection prevention. The 40 participants, consisting of physician microbiologists, infectiologists, medical specialists, pharmacists, infection prevention experts, came from 9 hospitals in Tanzania.
Golden triangle
In the fight against antibiotic resistance, you need the so-called golden triangle. This consists of:
- antimicrobial stewardship (AMS): proper use of antimicrobials to prevent the development of new resistance;
- infection prevention and control (IPC), so that existing resistant bacteria do not spread to other patients in the hospital;
- clinical microbiology, so that resistance is mapped, which in turn is essential for choosing the right antimicrobial treatment.
In this golden triangle, each part has an important task. If you want to change something, you have to tackle it at the grassroots. The course was primarily about how to change the basic antibiotic use and infection prevention practices of healthcare workers.
Course participants had to work in teams to identify what they wanted to address, and determine what intervention will change that approach using a focused problem analysis. That was further developed during the three-day course into a concrete project plan. After returning to their own hospital, participants were able to get right to work on it.
Further dissemination of the Drive-AMS course
In addition to Tanzania, the Drive-AMS course will also be taught in Rwanda and Kenya in the coming months. Meanwhile, trainers are being trained in these three East African countries to continue teaching this course themselves in the coming years. These courses are financially made possible by ICARS.
In addition, the Drive-AMS group at Radboudumc has published the handbook Antimicrobial Stewardship. A practical guide to implementation in hospitals, edited by internist-infectiologists Teske Schoffelen and Jaap ten Oever, Marlies Hulscher, professor of Implementation for Infectious Diseases, and Jeroen Schouten. In it, the methodology of successful implementation of antimicrobial stewardship programs in hospitals is explained with practical tools and examples.
Worldwide attention to antibiotic resistance
From 18 to 24 November is Worldwide Antimicrobial Awareness Week. During this week, additional worldwide attention is paid to antibiotic resistance. See also:
- Launch of Drive-AMS
- Drive-AMS in Low- and Middle Income Countries
- Across the world in fight against antibiotic resistance - DOQ
- Drive AMS (youtube.com)
- Five questions on antibiotic resistance from Heiman Wertheim and Jeroen Schouten
- Worldwide focus on antibiotic resistance
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