CwPAMS 1.5 Malawi-Wales Partnership  

Lead partners of the CwPAMS 1.5 Malawi-Wales Partnership consisted of:

Pharmaceutical Society of Malawi (PHASOM)
Kamuzu Central Hospital (KCH)
Mzuzu Central Hospital (MCH), and

Welsh Antimicrobial Pharmacy Group; and
Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board in Wales (BCUHB)

The partnership focused on training pharmacists as antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) leads in Malawi.

PHASOM and WAPG agreed to develop a Health Partnership with the aim of fostering cooperation and the exchange of knowledge and skills in the areas of antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) and antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Volunteers from UK and Malawi worked on this project with assistance from a project manager, the Tropical Health and Education Trust (THET) and Commonwealth Pharmacists Association (CPA) in-country consultant.

Work carried out contributed to the National Action Plan (NAP) Strategic Key 1 on improving awareness and understanding of Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) through effective communication, education and training.

Achievements included Antimicrobial Stewardship (AMS) Leads trained on Key Performance Indicator (KPI) development, collection of baseline data using the Global Point Prevalence Survey platform, development of a clinical AMS toolkit, installation of TV screens in the two hospitals for dissemination of awareness videos and 120 health workers trained in sessions conducted by lead pharmacists.

There was positive feedback from participants on the relevance of the training and toolkit. The partnership was also highly commended in the Best New Partnership Category at the Hub Cymru Africa Partnership Awards