Strengthening Drug and Therapeutics Committee Utilization in Health Facilities

The Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA)—a global partnership of countries and organizations—was launched in 2014 with the aim of strengthening country, regional, and global capacity to prevent, detect, and respond to infectious disease threats. To support the GHSA, the US Agency for International Development (USAID) Medicines, Technologies, and Pharmaceutical Services (MTaPS) Program supports Burkina Faso’s efforts to contain antimicrobial resistance (AMR).

Drug and therapeutics committees (DTCs) are groups that advise health care providers and hospital administration on the therapeutic use of medicines. By establishing and strengthening DTCs in health facilities, MTaPS has helped Burkina Faso to improve its capacity in the multisector coordination (MSC) and antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) components of AMR. This technical highlight describes the steps that MTaPS has taken to support Burkina Faso in DTC establishment and the lessons learned from implementing the intervention.