bioMérieux and the University of Antwerp award scholarships to three healthcare professionals for their commitment to improve antibiotic use in order to combat antimicrobial resistance

Marcy l'Étoile (France) – Antwerp (Belgium) – April 23, 2018 – bioMérieux, a world leader in the field of in vitro diagnostics, and the Laboratory of Medical Microbiology at the University of Antwerp have awarded three scientific scholarships within the scope of the Global Point Prevalence Survey (GLOBAL-PPS)[1], a study of antibiotic use and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in hospitals around the world. This distinction will allow three healthcare professionals who have taken part in the GLOBAL-PPS to spend two weeks working with the University of Antwerp team in charge of coordinating the study. This collaborative experience is intended to help them set up action plans within their respective hospitals to improve practices and encourage the appropriate use of antibiotics as a means of combatting AMR, based on the  2017 findings of the GLOBAL-PPS. They will also be writing scientific manuscripts based on the survey results and will develop educational tools to assist other Global-PPS sites. 

The scholarship recipients, Dr. Mari Rose A. De Los Reyes (Philippines), Ana Paula Matos Porto (Brazil) and Aalaa Afdal (Egypt), are being singled out for their expertise in the field of infectious diseases and antibiotics. They have distinguished themselves through their actions to promote programs to improve antibiotic use in hospitals and to combat antimicrobial resistance.

“The main findings of the GLOBAL-PPS show that more than one in three hospitalized patients receives antibiotics, with huge variations among hospitals and countries, and that a diagnostic test is used to support prescription in only 22% of cases, despite the decisive role that diagnostics play in ensuring the appropriate use of such medications.[2] These data will help to improve the quality of antibiotic prescribing, particularly in low-income and middle-income countries,”explained Herman Goossens, University of Antwerp, Belgium and GLOBAL-PPS project lead.

A survey of unprecedented scope, the GLOBAL-PPS enables the worldwide monitoring of antibiotic prescribing and bacterial resistance to antibiotic treatments. The initial findings of this study, which was launched in 2015, sparked a great deal of interest and were published on April  19, 2018 in the scientific journal The Lancet Global Health in an article authored jointly by the coordination team at the University of Antwerp, GLOBAL-PPS participants and medical professionals from bioMérieux.[3]

The Global-PPS was conducted again in 2017. This second edition of the study looked at 400  hospitals in 51 countries and collected data concerning more than 100,000 patients. Study findings were the subject of 22 posters that are being presented during ECCMID 2018. In view of the importance of this information to effect beneficial changes in hospital practice, the GLOBAL-PPS will now be repeated annually.

“Antimicrobial resistance has become a major global threat. True to its commitment to serve public health worldwide, bioMérieux develops innovative diagnostics and solutions reducing the spread of resistant bacteria through optimized antibiotic use,” said Mark Miller, Executive VP, Chief Medical Officer of bioMérieux. “The Company believes in the importance of medical and scientific education, especially as it relates to AMR. Therefore, we are very proud of supporting initiatives such as the GLOBAL-PPS and these related scholarships. This initiative provides hospitals around the world with information on antibiotic consumption and resistance rates which are instrumental to curb antimicrobial resistance.”