WHO: AMU for humans surveillance program Page

For decades, WHO has promoted availability and affordability of quality-controlled medicines, including antimicrobials, and their rational use all at all levels of the medicines value chain. With the adoption of the Global Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance (GAP-AMR) by the Sixty-eighth World Health Assembly in May 2015, WHO took a greatest interest on the use of antimicrobials. For measuring the use of antimicrobials, WHO took a two-pronged approach: 1) routine surveillance of quantities and types of antimicrobials consumed at country or facility levels referred as antimicrobial consumption (AMC); 2) use of these medicines by individuals.

At the same time, the Global Antimicrobial Resistance and Use Surveillance System (GLASS) was launched upon request by the assembly in resolution WHA68.7, with the aim to support the GAP-AMR. GLASS specifically targets the GAP-AMR second objective, which is to strengthen knowledge through surveillance and research. GLASS has evolved since its launch andcurrent technical modules include surveillance activities built on routinely available AMR and AMC data, with a focus on surveillance and activities aimed at generating information for specific purposes, based on countries’ needs.

On the surveillance of AMC, GLASS is proposing two sets of tools to monitor AMC at country or at facility level. The first sets of tools allow countries to estimate the quantities and types of antimicrobials consumed at country level. These data can be collected at national level on a yearly basis and provide base line data to identify patterns and trends of consumption of antimicrobials at country level and can be used especially by policy makers to strengthen pharmaceutical systems and rational use of antimicrobials. These data can also inform development of standard treatment guidelines and can be correlated with national resistance statistics and consumption in other sectors (animal, agriculture…). The facility-based surveillance of antimicrobial consumption is based on the same principles as national surveillance but targets individual facilities to generate facility level patterns of consumption and trends over the years. These data can be used at facility levels to improve procurement and supply of antimicrobials, can guide hospital antimicrobial stewardship programs and finally can explain partly the level of resistance in the facility. At national levels, these facility-level data can be used for benchmarking among facilities to correct incorrect patterns of consumptions or worrisome trends.

In TISSA, only national AMC data have been included and are referred as AMU in TISSA.

More information about the WHO two-pronged approach for measuring the use of antimicrobials, is available on the GLASS website: https://www.who.int/initiatives/glass.

 

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