Washington, D.C., 22 July 2021 (PAHO)- The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) facilitated two workshops called by the World Health Organization (WHO) to present and discuss the WHO policy guidance on integrated antimicrobial stewardship activities. The first workshop was held on 14-15 July for representatives from Latin American countries. The second workshop, targeting Caribbean countries, was held on 20-21 July.
The purpose of the WHO policy guidance is to offer a set of pragmatic evidence-based recommendations to drive comprehensive and integrated antimicrobial stewardship measures under the supervision of central national coordination units, national coordination or steering committees, or other equivalent national authorities.
During the two-day workshops, participants discussed the five key pillars of the WHO policy guidance:
- PILLAR 1: Establish a national coordination mechanism for antimicrobial stewardship and develop guidelines
- PILLAR 2: Ensure access to and regulation of antimicrobials
- PILLAR 3: Improve awareness, education, and training
- PILLAR 4: Strengthen water, sanitation and hygiene, and infection prevention and control
- PILLAR 5: Surveillance, monitoring, and evaluation
Divided into working groups, the country representatives created a roadmap for adapting and implementing the policy in the Region.
The workshops targeted authorities from the ministries of health, medicine regulatory agencies, and other institutions in Latin America and the Caribbean engaged in antimicrobial stewardship activities. There were 160 participants from Latin America and 41 from the Caribbean.
The activities were coordinated by the PAHO Department of Communicable Diseases and Environmental Determinants of Health, with support from the Medicines and Health Technologies Unit.
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