The Nigeria Center for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC), alongside its partners, is advocating for continued handwashing, personal hygiene, and other preventive measures practiced during COVID-19 to combat Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR).
This call was made during the annual review meeting of the Commonwealth Partnership for Antimicrobial Stewardship (CwPAMS 2) in Abuja, themed “Celebrating Progress and Learnings.”
The NCDC, in collaboration with partners, has launched the CwPAMS 2 programme in Nigeria. This initiative, funded by a grant, aims to support health partnership projects leveraging UK health institutions and experts to enhance the capacity of Nigeria’s national health workforce and institutions, as well as those in seven other Commonwealth countries, to tackle AMR challenges.
Five tertiary hospitals—Babcock University Teaching Hospital, University Teaching Hospital Enugu, University of Calabar Teaching Hospital, University College Hospital Ibadan, and Lagos University Teaching Hospital—have been selected for phase two of the grant, which will run from 2023 to March 2025. These hospitals are among the 52 selected as centers for implementing the AMR Stewardship Programmes in Nigeria.
AMR and Antibiotics Resistance occur when bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites evolve and no longer respond to medicines, making infections harder to treat and increasing the risk of disease spread, severe illness, and death. Antimicrobial stewardship, therefore, is a coordinated program that promotes the appropriate use of antimicrobials, improves patient outcomes, reduces microbial resistance, and decreases the spread of infections caused by multidrug-resistant organisms.
Mrs. Estelle Mbadiwe, one of the programme organizers, highlighted the success of the AMR stewardship programme in Nigeria, noting that the NCDC, as the National AMR Secretariat, will extend the lessons and success stories beyond the five selected sites. She also mentioned that some centers running the AMR Stewardship Programme can now train health workers on providing quality care, accurately diagnosing microorganisms, and identifying counterfeit antimicrobials.
Professor Dipo Aboderan, Chairman of the Antimicrobial Resistance Technical Working Group from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife, emphasized that the inappropriate use, misuse, and overuse of antibiotics in humans and animals contribute to AMR by pressuring bacteria and other microorganisms to become resistant and unresponsive to treatment. This led to the development of the National Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR), with objectives including public enlightenment, prevention, surveillance, and vaccination.
Professor Aboderan underscored the importance of awareness about AMR, noting that even healthcare workers sometimes believe any antibiotic will treat infections, which is not always the case. Surveillance on the burden of AMR and infection prevention control, including water and sanitation, is crucial.
“The same interventions that prevented COVID-19, such as handwashing and sanitizing, will also prevent the spread of infections and AMR, as hand transmission is a common way infections are spread,” Aboderan added.
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