Health Ministry calls for domestication of antimicrobial resistance lab scorecards

Ministry of Health Permanent Secretary for Technical Services, Lackson Kasonka, has called for domestication of the antimicrobial resistance laboratory scorecards to pay way for the control measures.

This will help improve public health emergency outcomes.

This is contained in a speech delivered on his behalf by Ministry of Health Director Clinical Care and Diagnostic Services, Alex Makupe, during the official opening of a two-day Stakeholders’ workshop on Domestication of Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention-CDC Antimicrobial Resistance Laboratory Scorecards in Lusaka on Monday.

Kasonka said said the antimicrobial resistance laboratory scorecards are key in influencing policy and health outcomes in both humans and animals.

He told the gathering that the country and the entire globe are facing the challenge of antimicrobial resistance and that Zambia must be a pinnacle of change in the fight.

The Permanent Secretary has since expressed hope that the domestication of the antimicrobial resistance laboratory scorecards will help in identifying strengths for improved public health emergency outcomes.

Speaking at the same event, Africa CDC commended Zambia for taking a leading role in health security for the content.

Africa CDC Regional Coordinator, Lui Rie, said Zambia has continued to set the health agenda for the antimicrobial resistance fight in the continent and has urged other countries to emulate its example.

Riek explained that the antimicrobial resistance laboratory scorecards will bring about the needed interventions once domesticated, saying that it will effectively address public health emergencies in the region.

Meanwhile, the Zambia National Public Health Institute-ZNPHI Director General, Roma Chilengi has called out clinicians on professional misconduct that has pushed the number of the antimicrobial resistance cases to a record high.

Chilengi who has scolded clinicians for negligence in the indiscriminate use of antimicrobials when dealing with patients has also called for enforcement of laws that bar the selling of antibiotics to people without medical prescriptions.

Contributed by Prudence Siabana

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