One of India’s leading multinational pharmaceutical companies Pfizer India and a health-focused relief and development organization Americares India Foundation announced the launch of OPEN-AMR an Online Platform for Education among Nurses on Infection Prevention and Control practices and Antimicrobial Stewardship Practices under antimicrobial resistance, which is one of the world’s top 10 global public health threats, according to the WHO. Courses on the platform are available free of cost and can be accessed in 7 different languages-English, Hindi, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Marathi.
The platform was unveiled at India’s first “Antimicrobial Resistance Summit 2022” by SMT KK Shailaja Teacher, Hon’ble Former Minister for Health & Family Welfare, Govt of Kerala, and Dr. Atul Goel, Director General of Health Services, Govt of India. The Summit was organized by IHW Council as the knowledge and awareness partner. They discussed two of the most critical areas related to AMR – challenges of infection prevention both in terms of health outcomes and economic costs; and bridging the vital gap on antibiotic resistance, keeping in mind how AMR could well undermine the United Nations’ mandated Sustainable Development Goals globally.
After the initial registration, nurses may select the course that optimally meets their professional requirements and receive a certificate on completion of the courses. The 6 courses currently being offered are – Introduction to Infection Prevention & Control and Antimicrobial Stewardship; Common Infection Prevention and Control Practices; Basics of Antimicrobial Stewardship and Core Components; Advanced Infection Prevention and Control Practices; Healthcare-Associated Infections and their Control practices; Antimicrobial Stewardship Principles and Action Planning. The program strengthens Pfizer’s Project Parivartan and has already been launched in 9 out of 11 hospitals with excellent feedback.
