Study across 14 countries reveals lack of laboratory capacity and erratic use of available antibiotics, finds only 1.3% of medical laboratories conduct any bacteriology testing.

September 15, 2022 (Addis Ababa) – New data released today on antimicrobial resistance (AMR) from 14 sub-Saharan countries finds that only five out of the 15 antibiotic-resistant pathogens designated by the World Health Organization (WHO) as priority pathogens are being consistently tested and that all five demonstrated high resistance.

The multi-year, multi-country study was carried out by the Mapping Antimicrobial Resistance and Antimicrobial Use Partnership (MAAP), a consortium spearheaded by the African Society for Laboratory Medicine (ASLM), with partners including the Africa Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), the One Health Trust, the West African Health Organization (WAHO), the East, Central and Southern Africa Health Community (ECSA-HC), Innovative Support to Emergencies, Diseases and Disasters and IQVIA. It provides stark insights on the under-reported depth of the AMR crisis across Africa and lays out urgent policy recommendations to address the emergency.

“Africa is struggling to fight drug-resistant pathogens, just like the rest of the world,” said Dr Pascale Ondoa, director of science and new initiatives of the African Society for Laboratory Medicine (ASLM). “But our struggle is compounded by the fact that we don’t have an accurate picture of how antimicrobial resistance is impacting our citizens and health systems. This study shines much-needed light on the crisis within the crisis.”

The results of the study, which was supported by the Fleming Fund, were released today at a meeting held at the African Union. The results provided insight into the AMR burden and

antimicrobial consumption in the 14 countries — areas where most available data on AMR is only based on statistical modeling. The efforts by MAAP are the first of their kind to systematically collect, process and evaluate large quantities of antimicrobial resistance and antimicrobial consumption (AMC) data in Africa.

Read more...