This article systematically investigates the level of awareness, current implementation status, and key barriers of antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) programs among healthcare workers in Zambia. It reveals that despite high awareness levels, systemic challenges significantly hinder hospital-level execution. The study provides crucial evidence for developing targeted strategies to improve the rational use of antimicrobial agents.
Literature Overview
This article, titled "Antimicrobial Stewardship Program Implementation, Perceptions, and Barriers in Zambia: A Cross-Sectional Study Among Healthcare Professionals", published in the journal "Antibiotics", reviews and summarizes the awareness, implementation status, and perceived key barriers to Antimicrobial Stewardship (AMS) programs among healthcare workers in Zambia. The study surveyed 58 public hospitals across Zambia, involving 364 healthcare workers, and found that although 75.3% of respondents were aware of the national AMR action plan, only 68.1% of hospitals had established AMS committees, and merely 41.2% had hospital-specific treatment guidelines. It further highlights systemic issues such as insufficient funding, weak IT support, and limited data access as the main barriers.
Background Knowledge
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has become a significant threat to global public health, especially in low- and middle-income countries, where limited healthcare resources and improper antimicrobial use accelerate the spread of drug-resistant strains. Antimicrobial stewardship programs (AMS) aim to optimize antimicrobial use through multidisciplinary collaboration and reduce the development of resistance. Since launching its national AMR action plan in 2017, Zambia has made some progress in antimicrobial management, but implementation remains constrained by institutional capacity, clinical pathway standardization, and data system integration. This study focuses on healthcare workers' awareness and barriers to AMS implementation, revealing a gap between policy and practice, and provides empirical evidence for future improvement of antimicrobial use.
Research Methods and Experiments
The study employed a cross-sectional survey design, collecting data from 364 healthcare professionals across 58 public hospitals in Zambia between August and December 2024. The survey assessed awareness of the national action plan on AMR, presence of hospital AMS committees, utilization of treatment guidelines, application of AMR surveillance reports, and perceived implementation barriers. Data analysis was conducted using IBM SPSS 25.0 for descriptive statistics and chi-square tests to evaluate differences in variables.
Key Conclusions and Perspectives
Research Significance and Prospects
This study identifies the primary systemic barriers to antimicrobial stewardship program implementation in Zambia, including funding limitations, data system inadequacies, and lack of multidisciplinary team capacity. Future efforts should focus on strengthening hospital-level AMS implementation, enhancing the clinical application of local resistance data, and increasing AMS education and resource allocation. The findings offer empirical support and policy recommendations for improving antimicrobial use in Zambia and other low- and middle-income countries.
Conclusion
While awareness of antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) programs is high among healthcare professionals in Zambia, actual implementation faces systemic barriers. Key challenges include insufficient hospital-level antimicrobial treatment guidelines, limited application of resistance surveillance data, and shortages of funding and IT infrastructure. This study emphasizes the need to strengthen institutional AMS frameworks, enhance integration of local resistance data, and optimize multidisciplinary team structures to achieve sustained improvements in antimicrobial use. Future efforts should focus on policy implementation, clinical pathway optimization, and resource support to enable systemic improvement in antimicrobial management in Zambia.
