ReAct Interview
Dr Meenakshi Gautham is a Research Fellow in Health Systems and Policy at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. She is currently leading a study to design a One Health Antibiotic Stewardship Intervention in community settings in rural India. In the project she is working with informal health providers and para-vets, the formal public health and veterinary health systems, the pharmaceutical industry and rural communities. Her whole interest in antibiotic use started because of her interest in informal providers.
Policy
Antimicrobial resistance was back on the agenda when the 148th WHO Executive Board which took place from January 18-26. A number of ReAct’s nodes developed position documents for Member State delegates and the WHO to consider in response to the stock taking report produced by the WHO secretariat.
Viewpoint in media
Viewpoint published in Brookings Foresight Africa 2021 report written by Patricia Geli, Senior Economist and Public Health Specialist at the World Bank and Professor Otto Cars, founder of ReAct.
While wealthier countries have been able to kick the can down the road by switching to more expensive antibiotics, already-fragile health systems in Africa will be stretched beyond breaking point as the switch from first-line antibiotics adds a median overall cost of $700 per infection.
News
React Africa and South Centre hosted their third annual conference beginning December 2020, under the theme, “What is the status of the Antimicrobial Resistance National Action Plans in the African Region?”A full conference report will be shared within 3 weeks. At a glance though, there where 4 key takeaways from the conference. To access the report e-mail: musonda.lamba@reactafrica.org
ReAct Interview
Nurse Dorce Datu, head of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Biak Hospital, Indonesia, has been working in the unit since the first day it was founded. She has seen the days when the death rate of premature babies with infection was 100%, and now she is the one who keeps the Infection Prevention Control Program at the unit running.
Her main goal is to create a supportive environment for the staff and she is not afraid of going the extra mile to help them and their small patients. She is a nurse who – together with the unit and the hospital – acts conscientiously on antibiotic resistance. We need more nursing professionals like Nurse Dorce and her team.