GLASS methodology for surveillance of national antimicrobial consumption

Overview

WHO GLASS component on surveillance of national antimicrobial consumption (GLASS-AMC) aims to provide a common and standardized methodology for monitoring the consumption of antimicrobial agents at country level. The standardization allows the follow-up of data trends over time, facilitates comparisons between countries, and informs policy and practice on how to optimize the use of antimicrobials at national, regional and global levels.

This publication gives an overview of the WHO methodology for the national surveillance of antimicrobial consumption and its principles for data collection and reporting, including data sources, ATC/DDD classification, variables and reporting metrics. The publication also provides instructions on setting up a national surveillance system for AMC, data flow between countries and WHO, and GLASS-AMC IT platform.