A new report published in The Lancet Microbe summarizes the findings of the Mapping AMR and AMU partnership (MAAP) supported by UK aid’s Fleming Fund and reveals critical gaps in country capacity to test and track antimicrobial resistant (AMR) bacterial infection. The report provided key evidence to guide national AMR containment policies.
The study, ‘Bacteriology testing and antimicrobial resistance detection capacity of national tiered laboratory networks in sub-Saharan Africa: an analysis from 14 countries’ involved a multidisciplinary experts from the African Society for Laboratory Medicine (ASLM), the Africa Centres for Disease Prevention and Control (Africa CDC), and the One Health Trust – alongside partners IQVIA, ECSA, WAHO and inSTEDD.
The team worked together with the African Union member states: Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Eswatini, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
The project examined 50,000 medical laboratories and found that only 1% were equipped to perform bacteriology testing, leaving millions of populations deprived from basic bacteriology diagnostics. The report highlights that at average, only 12% of the interventions proposed in the countries’ National AMR Action Plans (NAP) are aiming to increase the capacity, coverage or quality of bacteriology testing.
The report underscores the need for a significant scale-up in essential bacteriology diagnostics within the national laboratory network, accompanied by sufficient and skilled human resources, adequate data infrastructure and quality management systems.
In the absence of clear requirements regarding minimal bacteriology testing services, the study’s authors recommend that at least 50% of medical laboratories should be able to conduct bacteriology testing. The report also highlights the need to increase the alignment and coherence between NAP and other national strategies addressing integrated disease surveillance and response (IDSR), the development of Human Resources for Health or access to essential diagnostics.
The investigation result provides baselines to prospective interventions aiming to achieve the AMR diagnostic target of the recent United Nations General Assembly (UNGA): ‘improve access to diagnosis and care, so at least 80% of countries can test resistance in all bacterial and fungal GLASS pathogens by 2030’.
Implementing the recommendations proposed in the report can work alongside the AMR diagnostic initiative from the WHO. The initiative is articulated around two pillars: to bring diagnostics to the forefront of the Global response to AMR and achieve equitable access to quality testing for common bacterial and fungal pathogens.
Anafi Mataka, Head of Division of Diagnostics at ASLM, stated that the report is crucial for informing policy and laboratory strengthening interventions: “The MAAP study findings are an important wake-up call, highlighting the urgent need for enhanced laboratory capacity and resources to address the growing AMR threat across the continent”.
Dr Pascale Ondoa, Lead Author and Principal Investigator of the study, said: “These results paint a dire picture of bacteriology testing and AMR detection capacity in 14 African Union Member States, but also provides an opportunity to rectify our approaches.
“The findings demonstrates that country capacity to test for drug resistance must be viewed in the combined perspective of patient management and AMR surveillance. Most of the laboratory weaknesses identified here root from larger health system deficiencies. They cannot be resolved through AMR interventions alone or from the sideline of other vertical disease programmes. It is time to shift gear and change the paradigm.”
ENDS
For media and technical inquiries, please contact:
Nelly Rwenji | Senior Brand and Communications Manager | African Society for Laboratory Medicine| email: NRwenji@aslm.org
About the Fleming Fund
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC)’s Fleming Fund is a UK aid programme supporting up to 25 countries across Africa and Asia to tackle antimicrobial resistance (AMR), a leading contributor to deaths from infectious diseases worldwide.
The Fleming Fund invests in strengthening AMR surveillance systems through a portfolio of country grants, regional grants, and fellowships managed by Mott MacDonald, and global projects managed by DHSC.
About the Africa Centers for Disease Controls and Prevention
Africa CDC is an autonomous health agency of the African Union which supports Member States in their efforts to strengthen health systems and improve surveillance, emergency response, prevention and control of diseases. Learn more at: http://www.africacdc.org
About the African Society for Laboratory Medicine (ASLM)
ASLM is an independent, international, not-for-profit organisation founded in March 2011 in Addis Ababa that coordinates, galvanises and mobilises relevant stakeholders at the local, national, and international levels to improve local access to world-class diagnostic services and ensure healthy African communities now and for the long-term. ASLM is the first pan-African society for laboratory professionals, endorsed by the African Union (AU) and supported by multiple African Ministers of Health through its Ministerial Call for Action. https://aslm.org