PROJECT SUMMARY

COMBAT-AMR: implementation of a One Health capacity building program across Pacific Island Countries

COMBAT-AMR works in partnership with government, National AMR Committees and public health counterparts in Fiji, Samoa, Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea, to implement capacity building and training activities to support the prevention, diagnosis, surveillance, and management of AMR pathogens, under the framework of National AMR Action Plans and priorities. COMBAT-AMR is supported by the DepartmentofForeignAffairsandTrade'sIndo-PacificCentreforHealthSecurity

COMBAT-AMRdeliversaprogramofworkatmajornationalsites,includingreferralhospitalsandlaboratories, across four key themes: (1) infection prevention and control; (2) antimicrobial stewardship; (3) laboratory capacityandsurveillance;(4)animalhealth.

Under the infection prevention and control (IPC) theme, we have worked with the Colonial War Memorial Hospital (CWMH), Suva, Fiji, to support hand hygiene auditing, monitoring, and data collection, developed healthcare associated infection (HAIs) audit tools, reviewed and provided templates for standard operating procedures as well as participated in the Infection Control Committee (ICC) to provide technical support as needed.

In the antimicrobial steward (AMS) theme in Fiji, our project has provided training for 25 individuals representing Lautoka, Labasa and CWMH hospitals as well as Fiji Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Services (FPBS) with clinical and pharmacy background in antimicrobial auditing using the National Antimicrobial Prescribing Survey (NAPS). This survey provides the facilities an opportunity to observe prescribing trends withinthehospitalaswellascarryoutpointprevalencesurveyswithinthefacility Inaddition,wehaveworked withtheteamattheCWMhospitaltosupportimprovementmonitoring,feedbackanddatacollection.

The laboratory capacity and surveillance theme at CWM hospital, Suva, Fiji, has supported areas such as bacterialidentification,antimicrobialsusceptibilitytesting(AST),qualityassuranceandqualitymanagement, whole genome sequencing at the Microbiological Diagnostic Unit Public Health Laboratory (MDUPHL) in Melbourne, Australia, development of standard operating procedures, continuing remote support through online engagement and capacity building of four laboratory technician at the Doherty Institute, Australia in 2022

TheanimalhealththemehasworkedwiththeMinistryofAgricultureveterinariansandcollaboratedwithThe Pacific Community (SPC) to develop an antimicrobial treatment guideline which can be used by paraveterinariansandveterinariansinthefield.Thisguidelinehasreceivedendorsementfromtherespective ministry

Moreover,theCOMBAT-AMRprojecthascollaboratedwithotherpartnersinFijitosupportdevelopmentand improvement in clinical governance, PCR testing and surveillance capabilities through capacity building exercisesandactivitiesaddressingCarbapenemaseresistantorganisms.

SPEAKERPROFILE:ProfessorBenjaminHowden

Professor Benjamin Howden is Director of the Microbiological Diagnostic Unit Public Health Laboratory and Co-Director of the WHO Collaborating Centre for AMR at the Doherty Institute, Australia. He leads an extensive program of work across pathogen genomics, antimicrobial resistance, and clinical microbiology, across research, international capacity building and training, and policy. Professor Howden co-leads the Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade funded COMBAT-AMR program.