MoPH workshop pushes for a national action plan on antimicrobial resistance

The Ministry of Public Health (MoPH), in collaboration with the Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office of the World Health Organisation (EMRO/WHO), conducted a workshop to develop national action plan to combat antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in Qatar.Huda al-Katheeri, acting director, Healthcare Quality and Patient Safety Department at MoPH and the national focal point for AMR highlighted the importance of drafting the national action plan for AMR during her talk. According to the official, it is one of the most important pillars for the successful implementation of the national AMR programme.The plan is aligned with the objectives of the global action plan developed by the WHO as well as the Gulf Co-operation Council strategy.She also explained that the implementation of the plan will start with continuous monitoring and evaluation against its objectives that were adapted from the WHO plan, necessary for implementation of integrated multi-sectoral interventions across all the relevant stakeholders.The national focal points from the MoPH and the Ministry of Municipality and Environment together with experts from Hamad Medical Corp, Primary Health Care Corp, Ministry of Interior Medical Section, Qatar Armed Forces Medical Section, Qatar Petroleum, Sidra Medical and Research Center, Aspetar, several private hospitals in the country and representatives from tertiary education such as Qatar University and Hamad Bin Khalifa University participated in the workshop.It also aims at establishing a national task force adopting “One Health Approach” defining their roles and responsibilities to contain AMR problem at the national level and prioritise the interventions based on the importance and the urgency of the country requirements.