How is SEDRIC putting patients at the centre of the surveillance of drug-resistant infections?
SEDRIC was set up to strengthen the availability of information needed to monitor and track the risks posed by drug-resistant infections. We set out to support the translation of surveillance data into real-world interventions, changes in policy and more effective practices that will benefit patients.
In order to help us achieve this, we set up our very first working group made up of SEDRIC members from across the world.
They were tasked with investigating what ‘A patient-centred approach to surveillance’ might look like. Their aim was to investigate how we might improve patient care by providing effective treatment guidelines for resistant infections, something lacking in many locations where drug-resistance is widespread.
The group’s aims were to:
- identify gaps in the current approach to antimicrobial resistance surveillance at the point of care (hospitals and clinics), with a focus on LMICs
- propose solutions to address these gaps
- improve the use of surveillance data between labs and researchers across the globe to help with the development of new more effective treatment guidelines.
In order to better understand the most pressing problems facing microbiologists, clinicians and surveillance and epidemiology researchers around the globe, the group launched a questionnaire that was translated into three different languages. They were able to collect more than 500 responses from healthcare professionals that highlighted how patients with resistant infections are currently treated.
The survey responses are currently been analysed by the working group members and recommendations will be published in the Autumn. We aim to define and prioritise recommendations for antimicrobial resistance surveillance goals that strive towards putting patients at the centre. The recommendations will also prioritise linking of data to actions, something that may seem obvious but often does not happen in low income, low resource settings.
Look out for the published recommendations later this year.
