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PERSPECTIVE article

Front. Public Health
Sec. Infectious Diseases: Epidemiology and Prevention
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1411962
This article is part of the Research Topic One Health and Preparedness for Disease X in the Tropics: Spillover Prevention, Surveillance, Vaccines and Drugs View all 8 articles

Progress made in digitalizing antimicrobial resistance surveillance in a One Health approach in Kenya

Provisionally accepted
Veronicah M. Chuchu Veronicah M. Chuchu 1*Joseph Njung’e Joseph Njung’e 1Bridgit Muasa Bridgit Muasa 2,3Simon Peter M. Gathira Simon Peter M. Gathira 2,3Geoffrey Olela Geoffrey Olela 1Kinuthia Bubi Kinuthia Bubi 1Justus Ashaba Justus Ashaba 1Susan Githii Susan Githii 3Romona Ndanyi Romona Ndanyi 2,3Emmanuel Tanui Emmanuel Tanui 3Kamau Irungu Kamau Irungu 3Allan Azegele Allan Azegele 2,3Rigveda Kadam Rigveda Kadam 1Cecilia Ferreyra Cecilia Ferreyra 1
  • 1 Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics, Geneva, Switzerland
  • 2 Independent researcher, Nairobi, Kenya
  • 3 Ministry of Agriculture Livestock and Fisheries, Nairobi, Kenya

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background: Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a major threat to global public health, affecting human and animal health, agriculture, food safety, and the environment. The control of AMR is often challenging, particularly when data are scanty or siloed in individual sectors. To develop evidence-based control policies for AMR, an electronic information system that integrates AMR data from various sectors, in a One Health approach, is critical. Methodology: Acknowledging the interconnectedness of AMR in humans, animals, and the environment and the need to assess the AMR burden using a One Health approach, Kenya’s National Antimicrobial Stewardship Interagency Committee (NASIC), with support from FIND, integrated human and animal health AMR data at the national AMR data repository and developed the One Health AMR Surveillance System (OHAMRS). The OHAMRS comprises two core digital components: interoperability middleware for integrating data from various sources and a DHIS2 web portal for the analysis and visualization of AMR surveillance data from the human and animal health sectors. These components are scalable for future inclusion of data from other One Health sectors, e.g., the environment, food/feed, and aquaculture sectors. Results: The OHAMRS has 42 dashboards that facilitate the presentation, interpretation, and dissemination of actionable information relating to AMR, including 17 dashboards for human and animal health priority pathogens and 8 for drug-resistance indicators. The priority pathogen dashboards provide visualization of antimicrobial susceptibility patterns, resistance and susceptibility trends, resistance tables, and geospatial susceptibility maps. Other dashboards include surveillance sites and specimen reports, data completeness, data reconciliation, sample testing workload, a One Health intersectoral dashboard, and other reporting tools for diverse stakeholders. Discussion: Digitalizing AMR surveillance through a One Health lens is pivotal to understand AMR prevalence and patterns across various sectors. The OHAMRS provides comprehensive data analysis and presentation, informing policymaking on AMR control. Digital tools such as the OHAMRS are vital in facilitating the availability of data and actionable information on AMR required to address the AMR crisis in Kenya

    Keywords: One Health, surveillance, Digital Health, interoperability, Antimicrobial resistance (AMR)

    Received: 03 Apr 2024; Accepted: 03 Sep 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Chuchu, Njung’e, Muasa, Gathira, Olela, Bubi, Ashaba, Githii, Ndanyi, Tanui, Irungu, Azegele, Kadam and Ferreyra. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Veronicah M. Chuchu, Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics, Geneva, Switzerland

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.