Antimicrobial resistance control efforts in Africa: a survey of the role of Civil Society Organisations

Figures & data

Figure 1. Countries where CSOs are working on AMR in relation to the development of National Action Plans on AMR as reported by the Tripartite database for the period 2018–2019 (14)

*35 different CSOs completed the survey in some cases represent more than one country. This map does not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of Africa CDC concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.

Table 1. CSO profiles by main sector for their operations, main roles, time working on AMR in Africa, and involvement in National Action Plans development and/or implementation

Sectors*	Survey respondents (total 35) (%)
Human	20 (57)
Animal health	10 (29)
Environment	5 (14)
Plant	0
Food production	0
Food safety	0
Main roles**	Count ranking #1*** (%)
Advocacy	15 (43)
Service delivery	9 (26)
Technical inputs	5 (14)
Capacity building	3 (9)
Representation	3 (9)
Social functions	1 (3)
Time working on AMR	Count (%)
Not started yet	5 (14)
6 months	6 (17)
Less than 1 year	3 (9)
Between one and two years	4 (11)
More than two years	9 (26)
More than five years	8 (23)
CSOs involved in NAP development & implementation	Count (%)
Yes development	18 (43)
Human	10 (53)
Animal	6 (33)
Environment	2 (6)
Unknown	3 (9)
Yes implement	18 (51)
Human	12 (34)
Animal	4 (11)
Environment	2 (6)
Unknown	2 (6)

* As the CSOs self-labelled their priority sector.

** Representation (organisations that aggregate citizen voice), advocacy (organisations that lobby on particular issues), technical inputs (organisations that provide information and advice), capacity building (organisations that provide support to other CSOs, including funding), service delivery (organisations that implement development projects or provide services), social functions (organisations that foster collective recreational activities).

*** Ranking was decided by the mean number. Count is the number CSOs ranking the role as #1.

Table 2. Types of capacity building support needed by CSOs to deploy AMR-related activities

Resources	# of times selected*	% of CSO choosing this resource (35) *
Training in basic principles of AMR	21	60
Access to best practice examples/case studies	19	54
Networking opportunities	17	49
Planning tools (such as stakeholder analysis)	14	40
Information on national and global AMR policies and plans	14	40
Targeting tools (such as websites, blogs, and media engagement)	13	37
Monitoring and evaluation tools (such as Outcome Mapping)	13	37
Access to data and scientific reports	12	34
Technical guidance	7	20
Other	6	2
Training topic	# of times ranked as choice 1	% of CSOs #1 choice (35)
Understand the development and main causes of AMR	10	29
Training in communication to influence behaviour change in all relevant sectors	8	23
Understand the basic principles of infection prevention and control (IPC), i.e. hand hygiene to prevent transmission of infections and health-associated infections (HAIs)	5	14
Training in communication to empower health-care providers to challenge misuse or overuse of antibiotics	3	9
Understand the potential for cost savings and health gains associated with effective infection control and appropriate antimicrobial use	2	6
Understand the impact of resistance on choice of antimicrobial therapy for treating infections	1	3
Understand the morbidity, mortality and economic threat of AMR to human health	1	3
Understand antimicrobial use in food-animal production. Problems, solutions, challenges	1	3
Understand local AMR epidemiology, resistance and susceptibility patterns and use of guidelines	1	3
Understand the diagnostic role of the microbiology laboratory in detecting infections, resistance patterns, guiding patient management and informing AMR control strategies	1	3
Training in digital skills and online-advocacy methods	1	3
Training in skills such as: communication of public messages, monitoring and evaluation, proposal writing	1	3

* In several cases the CSOs chose more than one option. For this reason, the sum of votes is above 35.