Thursday, October 10, 2024

India’s first free-of-cost multilingual Online Education Platform on AMR for Nurses launched

One of India’s leading multinational pharmaceutical companies, Pfizer India and Americares India Foundation announced the launch of OPEN-AMR an Online Platform for Education among Nurses on Antimicrobial Resistance. Americares India Foundation, a health-focused relief and development organization, has joined as the execution partner. OPEN-AMR is a web-based platform that can be accessed by any nurse anywhere in India in seven different languages: English, Hindi, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and Marathi. Courses on the platform are available free of
cost to the nurses and hospitals. The courses will focus on Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) practices and Antimicrobial Stewardship Practices(AMSP) under antimicrobial resistance (AMR), which is one of the world’s top 10 global public health threats, according to the World Health Organization 1 . Additional courses will be included in subsequent years.

The platform was unveiled at India’s first “Antimicrobial Resistance Summit 2022”by SMT KK Shailaja Teacher, Hon’ble Former Minister for Health & Family Welfare, Govt. of Kerala and Dr. Atul Goel, Director General of Health Services, Government of India. The Summit was organized by IHW Council as the knowledge and awareness partner. Reputed stakeholders from across the government, policymakers, healthcare experts, reputed medical and research institutions and scientists came together to discuss two of the most critical areas related to AMR at the summit.

Speaking on the value of this program, Sharad Goswami, Senior Director-Corporate Affairs, Pfizer Limited, said, “Nurses are pillars of the hospital ecosystem in India and help in the efficient delivery of healthcare and in infection control. We believe that nurses can play a critical role in ensuring that good
antimicrobial stewardship and infection control measures are practiced in hospitals. For many years now, tackling antimicrobial resistance has been a global and local priority for us at Pfizer. We are pleased to partner with Americares India Foundation and Medivarsity to make OPEN and the courses on AMR available to every single nurse in India.”

Commenting on the effort, Dr Atul Goel, Directorate General of Health Services, Government of India said, “I’m happy to be part of AMR Program organised by Pfizer and its partners. Antimicrobial resistance is a growing public health concern, and the Government of India has taken cognizance through the implementation of the National Action Plans against AMR. We are happy to see the efforts that Pfizer and its partners are making to address the high burden of AMR in India. I would be glad to be part of the movement to control the menace and play an important role as DGHS, if pharmaceutical industry can play a responsible role in overcoming it.”

Designing the audio-visual courses and the full curriculum was a multi-staged process and involved several experts and stakeholders from Pfizer, Americares India Foundation, and Medvarsity which is the technical partner for this program. The classes are available for all nurses, at different designations and levels of education and professional experience, from students to administrators and nurse supervisors. After the initial registration, nurses may select the course that optimally meets their
professional requirements and receive a certificate on completion of each of the courses.

Commenting on the program, Shripad Desai, MD and Country Director, Americares India Foundation said, “We are pleased to partner with Pfizer and Medvarsity to launch OPEN-AMR in regional languages for nurses across India. I am confident that if nurses receive the right kind of training, they can become powerful advocates and enforcers of antimicrobial stewardship practices to help slow down the spread of AMR. It is estimated that AMR will cause 2 million deaths in India by 20502. We need to take quick, concrete action today if we want to cause any reduction in that burden.”

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