By Gom Mirian
The second phase of the £4.6 million Commonwealth Partnerships for Antimicrobial Stewardship (CwPAMS 2) programme, funded by the United Kingdom (UK) government’s Fleming Fund, has been officially launched by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC), the Commonwealth Pharmacists Association (CPA), and the Tropical Health and Education Trust (THET).
According to information posted on the NCDC website on Monday, this new round of funding will go toward Health Partnership initiatives that make use of the technical know-how and institutions of the UK to improve the capacity of the national health workforce and institutions in Nigeria and seven other Commonwealth nations to address AMR challenges, while fostering opportunities for bidirectional learning.
It also stated that in addition to its mandate of safeguarding Nigerians’ lives through evidence-based disease prevention, the country’s National Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) Coordinating Entity views AMR as a major global and national concern. If current trends hold, it is estimated that by 2050, AMR would have cost the global economy $100 trillion and resulted in up to 10 million annual deaths.
It added: “AMR is a complex public health threat with root causes across multiple sectors including human health, animal husbandry, food safety, agriculture, food production, water, sanitation, and the environment. Nigeria’s One-Health National action plan on AMR provides us with the policy framework to respond to AMR through collaboration and partnerships such as the CwPAMS.’
“These grants will focus on driving best practices in antimicrobial stewardship (AMS), building pharmacy capacity and expertise, and strengthening surveillance in Nigeria. Five tertiary hospitals – Babcock University Teaching Hospital, University Teaching Hospital Enugu, University of Calabar Teach Hospital, University College Hospital Ibadan, and Lagos University Teaching Hospital – were successful in the phase two grant to be implemented from this year until March 2025. The CwPAMS 2 programme is managed by the THET and the CPA.
“The NCDC also wishes to offer her sincere appreciation to the CPA and THET for organizing this launch event and supporting the five hospitals to implement AMS in Nigeria. This will augment the country’s current AMS interventions across all levels of healthcare, in line with the AMR national action plan. Furthermore, we congratulate the CwPAMS grant holders for their commitment throughout the application process and hope this rare opportunity helps to improve healthcare services and reduce the emergence and spread of AMR in your facilities.
“The NCDC is committed to continuing to lead and support One-Health collaboration in addressing infectious disease and AMR threat containment in Nigeria.”
