REGIONAL
R E G I O N A L C H E C K - U P
ZIMBABWE
HOW THE UK ’ S FLEMING FUND STRENGTHENING ANTIMICRO RESISTANCE SURVEILLANCE IN
The UK ’ s Fleming Fund brings evidence and people together to encourage action against drug resistance . Recently , it has invested in Zimbabwe , helping the country to generate , share and use data to improve antimicrobial use and further investments in AMR .
Antimicrobial resistance ( AMR ) is a threat to global public health . It occurs when bacteria and fungi can resist the effects of medications intended to destroy them . As a result , the medications stop working and diseases may continue to exist in the body or spread to other people . This increases illness and even death in humans , animals and plants . It also has implications for food safety , food security and the economic wellbeing of millions of people .
AMR monitoring – which attempts to optimise antibiotic treatment to enhance patient outcomes , decrease possible harm , avoid the evolution of resistance and save healthcare costs – depends on fully operational microbiology facilities .
“ Our microbiology laboratory was almost non-existent . We used to send samples of our patients to Harare for testing , which delayed diagnosis and occasionally caused patients to pass away before the findings were available ,” said Susan Taruwona , Masvingo Provincial Hospital Microbiology Laboratory Technician .
Thanks to the UK ’ s Fleming Fund , the Masvingo Provincial Hospital storeroom
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