Among the various interventions recommended in the WHO Global Strategy for Antimicrobial Resistance, antimicrobial consumers (patients and the general community) were identified as a priority intervention group for education regarding appropriate use of antimicrobials in order to minimize the development of antimicrobial resistance. This is especially relevant in most low- and middle-income countries where antimicrobials are often freely available without a prescription and used inappropriately in an informal healthcare system. 

Consumer demand is fueled with self-medication and awareness of AMR aspects is often poor. Designing and evaluating the effectiveness of consumer-focused interventions requires quantifying the knowledge and use of antimicrobials in the general community. This can only be done with a nationally representative household survey such as the Demographic and Health Survey (DHS).

In view of the lack of a population based AMR module, RPM Plus collaborated with Macro International to develop, design, field test, and finalize such a module.

The AMR module was developed through a series of expert group discussions between MSH/RPM Plus, Macro International and USAID, and later field-tested in Zambia in collaboration with the Central Statistical Office (CSO).

The field test report and the final module have been finalized and can be accessed from the DHS website.

The module can also be downloaded from here [PDF - 552KB].

Information generated from the AMR module will assist in spearheading advocacy, establishing policy, developing interventions, and evaluating efforts for AMR containment among the general community.