ZIMBABWE – The Government of Zimbabwe (GoZ) has declared that preparations for the new National Action Plan (NAP) for Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) for the period 2023-2027 are already underway.
The government’s strategic plan is to train costing coordinators to optimally use resources to achieve the best possible outcome for the implementation of the second National Action Plan for Antimicrobial Resistance.
Furthermore, Zimbabwe’s Ministry of Health and Child Care (MoHCC) Chief Director of Public Health Dr Munyaradzi Dobbie emphasized on the importance of planning, costing and budgeting National Action Plans (NAPs) on AMR.
Zimbabwe has partnered with the World Health Organization (WHO) to initiate, plan and conduct a 3-day training of National Costing Coordinators using the recently launched WHO costing and budgeting tool for the second NAP for AMR.
The training exercise saw the attendance of 14 participants drawn from various ministries including the MoHCC, the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water & Rural Development (MoLAFWRD) and the Ministry of Environment, Climate, Tourism & Hospitality Industry (MoECTHI).
National Action Plans (NAPs) are essential tools used by governments to address the global threat posed by antimicrobial resistance (AMR). NAPs provide a framework of sequence of actions to align activities of different stakeholders in different sectors toward one large goal of mitigating AMR.
The training exercise held in Kadoma from 21st June to 23rd June 22 aimed to build costing coordinators’ skills and ensure the participants have the technical capacity to cost and budget for the new AMR NAP 2023-27.
According to the World Health Organization, WHO AMR experts specifically Dr Alessandro Patriarchi and Mr Paul Verboom taught participants key components and functionalities of the tool and provided them with hands-on training of its usage through a series of practical exercises.
“National Action Plans are essential tools used by governments to address the global threat posed by antimicrobial resistance. NAPs provide a framework of sequence of actions to align activities of different stakeholders in different sectors toward one large goal of mitigating AMR,” WHO notes.
WHO disclosed that the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations’ (FAO) Progressive Management Pathway for AMR tool was used to evaluate the implementation progress, gaps and challenges of the first action plan for antimicrobial resistance in Zimbabwe.
In 2017, the Government of Zimbabwe with support from FAO, the World Health Organization and the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH) developed its first NAP for AMR (2017-2022).
The United Nations agency further revealed that Zimbabwe’s National Action Plan for Antimicrobial Resistance (2017-2022) was implemented across the human and animal health, agriculture and environment sectors.
Furthermore, a multi-sectoral coordinating committee was set up to compromise members from relevant Government Ministries of Zimbabwe to oversee the implementation of the NAP for AMR (2017-2022).
The list of ministries includes the Ministry of Health and Child Care, the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water & Rural Development and the Ministry of Environment, Climate, Tourism & Hospitality Industry.
WHO further said that the costing coordinators and the multisectoral coordinating committee will meet to cost activities for two new projects to be funded by the International Centre for Antimicrobial Resistance Solutions (ICARS) and the new AMR NAP.
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