Heiman Wertheim and Arjun Chandna from Oxford University and colleagues describe the launch and impact of VINARES, an initiative to strengthen antimicrobial stewardship in Viet Nam, which may be instructive for other countries struggling to address the threat of antimicrobial resistance.
Antimicrobial resistance is increasingly recognised as a serious contemporary global health threat (with numerous calls for action from the international community), but while interventions to control antimicrobial resistance are available, implementation is developing countries (where the threat is greatest) is challenging.
The authors describe the challenges faced in Viet Nam and how they launched and have measured the impact of VINARES, which is intended to galvanize political and medical leadership including national and local stakeholders and to provide "the impetus and infrastructure for self-sufficient infection surveillance and antimicrobial stewardship in Vietnam for the long-term."
Funding: The VINARES project is funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), Wellcome Trust (United Kingdom), Linko¨ ping University (Sweden), and the Global Antibiotic Resistance Partnership (GARP). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
Citation: Wertheim HFL, Chandna A, Vu PD, Pham CV, Nguyen PDT, et al. (2013) Providing Impetus, Tools, and Guidance to Strengthen National Capacity for Antimicrobial Stewardship in Viet Nam. PLoS Med 10(5):e1001429. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1001429
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Contact:
Heiman Wertheim
Oxford University
Oxford University Clinical Research Unit Hanoi
National Institute of Infectious and Tropical Diseases
78 Giai Phong Street
Hanoi, Hanoi NA
VIET NAM
+84-4-3576-4320
work: +84-9-3629-0738
heiman.wertheim@gmail.com
Journal
PLoS Medicine