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Antimicrobial Resistance Strategy and Scottish Action Plan
Objectives
The main objectives of the strategy are grouped into eight action areas:
General
(i) To gain commitment from all players and a co-ordinated, focused approach to the problem at local, national and international levels.
Surveillance
(i) To establish and maintain systems in Scotland, the UK and as part of wider international networks, to improve the data and information available on antimicrobial resistant organisms and illness due to them in order to:
Assess the clinical impact and the burden of disease;
Monitor trends;
Determine new risk factors and the main drivers of resistance;
Detect new and untoward events;
Inform clinical practice;
Inform veterinary and animal husbandry practice;
Assess the effects of interventions.
(ii) To establish and maintain appropriate systems to monitor antimicrobial use in the UK in order to:
Support optimal prescribing policies and practice;
Relate data on patterns of use and antimicrobial resistance in Scotland and the UK, as part of national and international efforts to improve knowledge on how use may lead to the build up of resistance.
(iii) To improve the correlation of data on patterns of antimicrobial use, antimicrobial resistant organisms and illness due to them, in animals and man.
Prudent antimicrobial use in humans
Through a wide range of measures in the UK, and by encouraging co-ordinated action in this field with other European Union (EU) Member States:
(i) To promote optimal antimicrobial prescribing in clinical practice, through:
(ii) To improve diagnostic and antimicrobial susceptibility testing methods and reporting systems in order to provide more rapid information to prescribers (while preserving surveillance).
(iii) To encourage appropriate expectations for antimicrobial prescribing, and emphasise the joint responsibility of professionals and the public role in reducing the problem of antimicrobial resistance, through:
A public information campaign;
Regular routes for promulgating patient information;
Education for health professionals;
Patient involvement in prescribing decisions;
Schools;
Other, innovative approaches.
(iv) To use the regulatory framework to improve optimal prescribing (in the UK and Europe) where appropriate.
Prudent antimicrobial use in animals
(i) To promote optimal antimicrobial prescribing in animals, through:
(ii) To reduce unnecessary and inappropriate use of antimicrobials for non-therapeutic use in animals.
(iii) To use the regulatory framework to improve optimal prescribing (in the UK and Europe) where appropriate.
Prudent antimicrobial use in other spheres
(i) While the use of antimicrobials in arable agriculture and horticulture is not currently an issue in the UK, to maintain that position and to support action to reduce inappropriate use in Europe and elsewhere (including the use of antibiotic resistance marker genes in the development of genetically modified crops).
Infection control
(i) To strengthen infection control practices and processes in hospitals and the community, and promote collaboration between the Member States of the EU and the WHO European Region to this end, through:
Information technology
(i) To ensure that developing information technology systems take account of the needs of antimicrobial resistance surveillance and prescribing monitoring and support, and that they allow effective international co-operation in this field.
Research
(i) To promote a co-ordinated programme of research, responsive to policy needs, including:
Basic research into mechanisms of resistance and its spread;
Applied research to further investigate risk factors, clinical impact and best practice for control in Scotland and the UK and in the international context.
(ii) To encourage the development of new and novel agents/technologies to detect, prevent and treat infection and overcome resistance.
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