Ministry of Health has partnered global pharmaceutical companies, Pfizer and bioMerieux to enhance capacity in infection prevention, control and surveillance to guide appropriate use of antibiotics, given Malawi’s average drug resistance of 76%.
Dr Collins Mitambo, Head of Antimicrobial Resistance Coordinating Centre, said the collaboration will compliment the Malawi National Action Plan and existing partnership with Fleming Fund in accelerating national efforts and help scale up the fight against Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR).
Through the partnership, bioMerieux will equip the country’s four central hospitals’ labs with new diagnostic and surveillance tools to improve healthcare.
Ministry of Health records show 19,000 sepsis deaths in 2019 were the result of bacterial AMR.
AMR occurs when bacteria, virus, fungi, and parasites no longer respond to antimicrobial medicines.
By Alufisha Fischer
