MTaPS Support
USAID MTaPS is supporting Burkina Faso to enhance its capacities in multisectoral coordination and antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) under the country’s Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA) mandate.
Program Objectives
Global Health Security Agenda
- Provide technical assistance on AMS by helping the country develop national reference documents and strengthen regulatory bodies in health facilities with the ultimate goal of optimizing the use of medicines.
- Foster close cooperation and communication between human, animal, and environmental health under the One Health Platform and build the capacities of stakeholders on antimicrobial best dispensing practices.
Key Achievements
- Supported the National Medicines Regulatory Authority (NMRA) to develop the country’s national list of essential medicines to include the World Health Organization’s (WHO) access, watch, and reserve (AWaRe) categorization of antibiotics, which will help better prescribe these drugs.
- Supported the NMRA to revise the national therapeutics formulary, a guide that included updated and verified information on pharmaceuticals designed to facilitate the use of the national list of essential medicines.
- Conducted an awareness workshop with the Directorate for Hospital Pharmacy and with the participation of the General Secretary of the Ministry of Health for hospital unit leads and pharmacists on antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and the importance of drug and therapeutics committees.
- Strengthened the capacities of 10 hospital drug and therapeutics committees, reinforcing their functioning and best practices for drug dispensing.
- Supported the Technical Secretariat of the One Health Platform to develop the country’s national action plan for AMR by conducting an implementation assessment and advising the Technical Secretariat and WHO on the development process of this document.
- Developed, in collaboration with the General Directorate of Veterinarian Services (DGSV), guidelines on the rational use of antibiotics for livestock.
- Supported the DGSV to conduct training for 15 veterinarians and 45 livestock technicians on drug dispensing best practices.
- Supported the DGSV to develop a Ministerial order on the creation, organization, and functioning of a national pharmacovigilance system in the animal health sector. This order was signed on November 3, 2023.
