FPH is delighted to announce that our Africa Special Interest Group (SIG) has been awarded a grant by the Tropical Health and Education Trust (THET) to deliver work on antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) in Ghana. The SIG members will be using the grant to strengthen and formalise health partnerships between the UK and Ghana, specifically Macclesfield District General Hospital in the UK and LEKMA Hospital in Ghana.
The UK team will be led by Dr Sam Ghebrehewet, Consultant in Communicable Disease and Head of Health Protection at Public Health England on behalf of FPH's Africa SIG. The Ghanaian team will be led by Professor Col. Edwin Afari (Rtd) at Ghana Public Health Association.
The goal of the partnership is to establish and evaluate a functional model for AMS as a centre of excellence with appropriate cultural shift in attitudes to antimicrobial resistance (AMR) for potential roll out; by strengthening systems and processes for AMS through improving surveillance, building sustainable capacity and capability of the workforce on antimicrobial prescribing practices in LEKMA Hospital, Ghana.
The grant, worth just under £30,000, is part of The Commonwealth Partnerships for Antimicrobial Stewardship which is funded by the Department of Health and Social Care’s Fleming Fund. The work that our Africa SIG will be leading is one of just 12 projects to be funded this year.
Prof Neil Squires, International Registrar at FPH, said: “I’m delighted that the Africa SIG has been awarded this grant, which engages FPH in the delivery of a key area of the UK’s global health policy to tackle antimicrobial resistance. The grant will enable a partnership for learning and exchange to be developed, strengthening our global connections, promoting good public health knowledge and make a positive impact to stewardship practices in Ghana.”
FPH's Africa SIG operates in a distributed leadership model with scope for members to take part and lead on specific public health initiatives to improve health in Africa. If you would like to be involved in their work, please contact the SIG's Co-Chair, Dr Victor Joseph: victor.joseph@doncaster.gov.uk.
