ENhancing Appropriate Antimicrobialc use via mHealth and other techniques in the Republic of South Africa

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The overall aim of this proposal is to develop sustainable innovations to improve the rational use of antimicrobials (AM) in South Africa (SA) in order to reduce the antimicrobial resistance (AMR) rate and its devastating health consequences where AMR is a major threat to the sustainability of the health care system. This would be achieved through conducing a situation analysis to understand the current utilisation/use of AM and the uptake of vaccines, as well as any present strategies/guidelines around the appropriate use of AM in both public sector hospitals and the primary health care (PHC) system alongside the extent of their uptake/compliance by clinicians. This includes point prevalence studies (PPS), questionnaire surveys and retrospective reviews of medical records and prescriptions among representative samples of public sectors hospitals and PHC centres in SA to provide a baseline understanding of the current situation around AM use and infectious disease (ID) treatment guidelines and their uptake. mHealth technologies, including Apps, would be developed and used to collect surveillance data around AM consumption and vaccination uptake, in both primary and secondary care settings. Workable mHealth technologies would also be developed to improve AM use in both sectors through their use as clinical decision support tools to assist and guide healthcare professionals to adhere and implement suggested guidelines and antimicrobial stewardship programmes (AMSPs) alongside their use as data collection tools for AM consumption and surveillance.

The key deliverables of this proposal would be developing strategies to improve the appropriate use of AM across public sectors using mHealth approaches. This includes interventions to improve surveillance of AM consumption, AMSPs as well as adherence to treatment guidelines. This proposal would enhance capacity building in SA through the inclusion of postgraduate and undergraduate students, leading to PhD and master qualifications. Additionally, the proposal would result in several publications in international conferences and peer-review journals that would ultimately enhance and enrich the research records, quality and experience of both partner institutions. Lastly, the findings and implications will be of interest to other Africa countries.