UPDATE 18 January 2023: Thank you to all who have responded to the call for consultation. Comments received have been reviewed and addressed - see "Response to comments" below.
Background
Inappropriate use of antibiotics is frequent in many settings and an important driver of antibiotic resistance. Easily accessible, evidence-based guidance from trusted sources is lacking for many common infectious syndromes in many countries, especially in low- and middle-income settings.
In 2015, the World Health Assembly adopted WHO’s “Global action plan on antimicrobial resistance” (WHA Resolution 68.7). The resolution requested WHO, international, regional and national partners to implement necessary actions in order to contribute to the accomplishment of the five objectives of the global action plan on antimicrobial resistance. Objective 4 of the global action plan is to optimize the use of antimicrobial medicines in human and animal health.
In response to this request, WHO has prepared a draft WHO Essential Medicines List Antibiotic Book. This publication provides information related to the prescribing and use of the antibiotics on the WHO Model List of Essential Medicines for the empiric treatment of common infections in adults and children. The publication also includes brief information on epidemiology, common causative pathogens, diagnostic strategies and the impact of antimicrobial resistance on antibiotic selection.
The draft publication has been developed by an international expert working group of specialists in infectious diseases, antimicrobial resistance and public health. It reflects the recommendations for antibiotics made by the WHO Expert Committee on Selection and Use of Essential Medicines, including the AWaRe (Access-Watch-Reserve) classification of antibiotics. The draft publication is accompanied by a series of infographics for individual infectious syndromes and Reserve group antibiotics, intended to be a quick-reference, user-friendly and portable resource for clinicians to carry with them while seeing patients
The target audience of the publication and infographics includes all categories of healthcare providers prescribing and / or dispensing antibiotics (physicians in the outpatient and inpatient setting, dentists, nurses and nurse practitioners, pharmacists) both in the primary health care and the facility setting, developers of guidance documents, and procurement agencies.
The WHO EML antibiotic book is not intended to replace local or national guidelines but rather to supplement gaps in existing guidance documents and provide a resource for adaptation of guidance documents in line with WHO’s AWaRe classification.
We encourage all interested stakeholders to advertise the call for comments to any individual or organization who may be interested in contributing.
Purpose of the public consultation
Consistent with its universal, transparent and inclusive spirit, WHO is launching a public consultation to reach healthcare providers, government officials, civil society organizations, international organizations, research institutions, and interested citizens and stakeholders from all over the world to ensure that content of the publication is accurate, relevant and addresses the needs of the intended audience. Inputs collected during the public consultation will be considered in the revision and finalization of the publication and infographics.
Publication of contributions
All comments will be considered public and may be published unless requested otherwise. It should be noted that comments submitted by individuals in a personal capacity may be published as such, indicating the contributor’s first and family name, unless a substantial justification for protection is provided by the respondent. Comments submitted on behalf of an organization may also be made publicly available.
Response to comments
We thank all contributors for having taken the time to review the draft and for providing their considered comments, feedback, and suggestions. The response to the comments received, outlining the changes that were made to the Book as a result of the consultation process is available here.
Contact
For any questions regarding the WHO EML antibiotic book, please email aware@who.int.