Strengthening the surveillance of antimicrobial resistance in the WHO European Region
WHO supports countries to improve their surveillance of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), working alongside WHO collaborating centres and partners across the Region. Improving surveillance means improving the collection, analysis and communication of AMR data. It is a core pillar in the global, regional and national action plans for combating AMR.
AMR occurs when bacteria, parasites, viruses and fungi become resistant to antimicrobial medicines that are used to treat the infections they cause. As a result of AMR, antibiotics and other antimicrobial medicines become ineffective and infections increasingly difficult – or even impossible – to treat.
Consistent and high-quality data are needed on the incidence, prevalence and range of pathogens and the geographical patterns related to AMR, in order to:
- guide the treatment of patients;
- inform local, national and regional actions;
- monitor the effectiveness of interventions.
In the WHO European Region, the main surveillance networks gathering and presenting data from countries are the European Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance Network (EARS-Net) and the Central Asian and European Surveillance of Antimicrobial Resistance (CAESAR) network.
EARS-Net collects data from countries that are members of the European Union (EU) and the European Economic Area (EEA), while CAESAR collects data primarily from eastern European and central Asian countries, and the Caucasus. Combined, these two networks strive to provide a pan-European overview of AMR surveillance data for the WHO European Region.
WHO supports countries by delivering activities such as:
- laboratory capacity-building;
- training workshops;
- laboratory quality management;
- mentoring;
- external quality assessments;
- data management and analysis;
- development of new training modules.
