Antimicrobial research activities in the Southern Africa Centre for Infectious Disease Surveillance (SACIDS) is led by the antimicrobial resistance (AMR) Community of Practice (AMR CoP). This CoP was formed five years ago to address the burden of AMR in the southern African region and therefore, contributes to the global effort.
We set out to address the AMR prob- lem from the One Health perspective in humans, animals and the environ- ment and, therefore, our research team combines expertise and experi- ence from the three sectors. We realised that although AMR is a global issue, in low-income countries, it is compounded by (i) a lack of access to appropriate antimicrobial therapy, (ii) weak of regulation in the use of antibi- otics for humans and animals, (iii) weak AMR surveillance and resistance levels, (iv) a lack of updated antibiotic use and treatment guidelines, (v) a lack of continuing medical and veteri- nary education on antibiotic use for prescribers, (vi) a weak regulatory framework for the use of antibiotics in animal production and aquaculture, (vii) a high degree of drugs abuse by livestock keepers through; (viii) a lack of basic knowledge on the concept of antibiotic resistance among livestock keepers (ix) unregulated disposal of industrial waste and finally (x) self medication using antimicrobials.
