What are the health needs and challenges?

A significant percentage of global antibiotic usage does not comply with guidelines or generally accepted standard-of-care for antibiotic use increasing the pressure for bacteria to develop resistance without providing any benefit to the patient.  Pfizer routinely sponsors and conducts medical education outreach to healthcare providers through a variety of mechanisms, including medical symposia and Pfizer sponsored preceptorships, to ensure appropriate utilization of antibiotics and improve infection prevention and control.  The goal of these programs is to increase the proper use of antibiotics as defined by global, regional and local guidelines working to ensure that the right antibiotic is used in the right patient for the correct duration and at the correct dose. According to independent guidelines, this practice maximizes the benefit to the patient while minimizing resistance pressure and ensuring scarce heath care resources are leveraged to their fullest potential.

Partnership activities and how they address needs and challenges

Pfizer recently partnered with the British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy and the University of Dundee to launch the Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on antimicrobial stewardship.

The course helps health care professionals understand the advantages inherent in a AMS program, teaches how to initiate a quality program, and educates on how to improve existing programs.  The goal is to address the global threat of antimicrobial resistance and work to ensure that the use of high-quality antibiotics are most appropriately applied to everyday practice.

Over 50,000 health-care providers have registered for the MOOC with about 2/3  completing half or more of the course.

Pfizer currently provides support to BSAC for translation of the MOOC into Chinese, Spanish, Russian, and Portuguese to enable broader global access to AMS training and has supported the adaption of the course to reflect local needs so as to be more relevant to specific regions and countries, such as Brazil and South Africa.

Corresponding principle in the declaration

“We are committed to antibiotics only being used in patients who need them, we support continued education for clinical professionals on appropriate use, and we welcome the WHO Global Action Plan’s focus on improved stewardship”.

Read full Declaration by the Pharmaceutical, Biotechnology and Diagnostics Industries on Combating Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR)