Dear CHIFA colleagues,
Just a few minutes after sending my message to Sophie Jullien, the announcement of a relevant new publication from WHO came into my inbox:
Global research agenda for antimicrobial resistance in human health. Policy brief
https://cdn.who.int/media/docs/default-source/antimicrobial-resistance/a...
The brief recommends 40 priority areas for research, which include the following:
1. Investigate antimicrobial stewardship interventions (such as implementing the WHO AWaRe antibiotic book, guidelines, clinical algorithms, education and training, audit and feedback), alone or in combination, that are context specific, feasible, sustainable, effective and cost-effective to avoid antimicrobial misuse in outpatient and inpatient settings, especially where diagnostic capacity may be limited.
2. Identify feasible, effective and scalable pharmacist antimicrobial medicines dispensing practices in community pharmacies and related regulatory frameworks (such as incentives and disincentives) to improve antimicrobial stewardship in the community, especially in low- and middle-income countries.
3. Determine the most (cost-) effective behavioural change interventions to mitigate antimicrobial resistance emergence and spread by targeting and engaging the general public, young people, mass media, health-care providers and policy-makers across socioeconomic settings.
The first and third appear to address the information needs of health workers and patients/families respectively. The second is particularly relevant to profit-driven prescribing as described by Massimo.
I refer you also to the HIFA poster 2017 Medicines Information for All: https://www.hifa.org/sites/default/files/publications_pdf/HIFA_PUM_poste...
and the HIFA systematic review 2020: 'How primary healthcare workers obtain information during consultations to aid safe prescribing in low- income and lower middle- income countries: a systematic review' https://gh.bmj.com/content/5/4/e002094
Best wishes, Neil
HIFA profile: Neil Pakenham-Walsh is coordinator of HIFA (Healthcare Information For All), a global health community that brings all stakeholders together around the shared goal of universal access to reliable healthcare information. HIFA has 20,000 members in 180 countries, interacting in four languages and representing all parts of the global evidence ecosystem. HIFA is administered by Global Healthcare Information Network, a UK-based nonprofit in official relations with the World Health Organization. Email: neil@hifa.org
