Australia’s Department of Health and Department of Agriculture have worked together to come up with the country’s first national antimicrobial resistance strategy, “Responding to the threat of antimicrobial resistance“, which lays out plans for action from 2015-2019. The strategy has seven main objectives:
- Increase awareness and understanding of antimicrobial resistance, its implications and actions to combat it, through effective communication, education, and training.
- Implement effective antimicrobial stewardship practices against human health and animal care settings to ensure the appropriate and judicious prescribing, dispensing and administering of antimicrobials.
- Develop nationally coordinated One Health surveillance of antimicrobial resistance and antimicrobial usage.
- Improve infection prevention and control measures across human health and animal care settings to help prevent infections and the spread of resistance.
- Agree a national research agenda and promote investment in research and development of new products and approaches to prevent, detect and contain antimicrobial resistance.
- Strengthen international partnerships and collaboration on regional and global efforts to respond to antimicrobial resistance.
- Establish and support clear governance arrangements at local, jurisdictional, national and international levels to ensure leadership, engagement and accountability for actions to combat antimicrobial resistance.