Combatting Antimicrobial Resistance: A Faith-Based Initiative in Malawi

Authors

Evans Chirambo¹ , Dumisani Nkhoma¹ , Judith Asin² , Austine Opiata² , Umazi Fanjo² , Pacharo Matchere¹ , Beatrice Chiweza¹ , Elled Mwenyekonde¹ , Happy Makala¹ , Innocent Chibwe³ , Collins Mitambo³ , Richard Neci² , Sharon Odeo²

1. Christian Health Association of Malawi
2. Ecumenical Pharmaceutical Network
3. Malawi's Ministry of Health-Antimicrobial Resistance Coordinating Centre

Conference / event

Kamuzu University of Health Sciences Annual Research Dissemination Conference, October 2024 (Blantyre, Malawi)

Poster summary

Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) attributes to over 5 million death globally and in Malawi, 19,300 deaths, annually. To address AMR threat and compliment Ministry of Health effort in combating AMR , Christian Health Association of Malawi (CHAM) [a Malawian faith-based organisation], collaborated with Ecumenical Pharmaceutical Network (EPN) [a Kenyan-based international not-for-profit christian organisation] to implement an AMR Project. Twenty five health facilities with 100 AMR champions (four per facility) were selected for project implementation. The champions received training and developed AMS actions plans to address their facilities’ AMR problems. The champions implemented over 90% of the AMS action plans covering all key AMS areas; rational use of antibiotics, proper hygienic practices, waste management, prevent resistant infections, microbiology tests based treatment initiation, and checking of antibiotics quality. CHAM has started addressing AMR problems and facilities embraced it. More resources are needed to scale-up the AMS programme.

Keywords

Antimicrobial resistance, Antimicrobial Stewardship, Faith-based health facilities, Under-served communities

Research areas

Medicine, Pharmacy and Pharmacology

References

1. Organisation WH. 2022 20 June. World Antimicrobial Awareness Week 2022. World Health Organisation <https://www.afro.who.int/regional-director/speeches-messages/world-antimicrobial-awareness-week-2022#:~:text=Compared%20to%20other%20regions%2C%20sub,000%20annual%20deaths%20from%20AMR.>. Accessed 2023 20 June.
2. Washington Uo. 2023 10 January The burden of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in Malawi. University of Washington<chromeextension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.healthdata.org/sites/default/files/2023-09/Malawi.pdf>. Accessed 2024 10 January

Funding

1. Novartis through Ecumenical Pharmaceutical Network

Supplemental files

1. Abstract   Download
2. Narrative Project Final Report   Download

Additional information

Competing interests

No competing interests were disclosed.

Data availability statement

The datasets generated during and / or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Creative Commons license

Copyright © 2024 Chirambo et al. This is an open access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.