MTaPS' Support
In Senegal, MTaPS’ work is focused on supporting the country to contain antimicrobial resistance (AMR). The program is assisting the Senegal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare (MOHSW) and One Health stakeholders in strengthening systems and reforming practices to improve infection prevention and control (IPC) and the optimal use of antimicrobial medicines. To position the country to better address the challenge of AMR across all sectors, including human, environmental, animal, and agriculture, MTaPS is also helping to bolster multisectoral coordination to promote stronger antimicrobial stewardship (AMS).
MTaPS focuses on the following technical areas:
Senegal is a member of the Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA), which is a partnership of countries and organizations working to keep the world safe from infectious disease threats. MTaPS technical assistance focuses on helping Senegal advance capacities related to IPC and AMS components of the GHSA objectives for AMR. To build country ownership and strong technical skills within the country, MTaPS will support the MOHSW to document experiences and best practices in these areas and share them with One Health stakeholders in the country—implementing partners that include WHO, UNICEF, FAO, and the World Bank—to inform scale up and roll out of improvement interventions.
Strengthening the capacity of MOHSW managers at all levels (central, regional, and district) and health facilities to implement IPC programs
MTaPS is working with the MOHSW to conduct a baseline assessment of the national IPC program and helping selected hospitals to assess their IPC programs and use a participatory approach to develop action plans to address identified weaknesses. Follow-on technical assistance to hospitals includes helping to strengthen the role of infection control committees and build their capacity to implement IPC programs, apply World Health Organization (WHO) multimodal improvement approaches, and inculcate a culture of continuous quality improvement. Hospitals are encouraged to incorporate the IPC program into their quality improvement structures to foster ongoing support and promote sustainability. The program will support an annual “lessons learned” workshop to enable hospitals to share experiences and to inform roll out to new hospitals.
Providing technical support to formulate a national AMS plan and improve adherence to treatment guidelines
MTaPS is helping the MOHSW formulate and implement a national AMS strategy and plan to improve the prescribing and use of antimicrobial agents. Work in this area includes helping country counterparts to update the standard treatment guidelines for antibiotics to include WHO’s access, watch, and reserve categories; apply prescribing regulations; and promote adherence to prescribing guidelines. Also, MTaPS will support the MOHSW to improve the availability and use of data on antimicrobial prescribing and use and adherence to standard treatment guidelines and national essential medicines list.
Incorporating IPC and AMS in leadership and management training modules
MTaPS is working closely with USAID implementing partners (e.g., HSS+, IDDS, HRH2030) and NEEMA to incorporate IPC and AMS modules into the Ministry’s eLearning platform. The program will also support a learning collaborative and motivational peer network to help participants apply lessons learned. This work will enable health care workers and managers to have a stronger awareness of topics related to IPC and AMS, gain a greater understanding of their role in developing and implementing IPC programs, and be better able to lead and mentor others.