Strengthening Antimicrobial Stewardship Policy: Insights from COVID-19 and Future Pandemic Preparedness

This presentation about the policy brief written by Dr Rasha Abdelsalam Elshenawy highlights how lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic can inform and strengthen antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) strategies to address the global threat of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). In this presentation, Dr Elshenawy explores the dual challenges of COVID-19 and AMR, showing how AMS programmes were disrupted due to increased antibiotic misuse, reduced infection prevention measures, and weakened surveillance systems—especially in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Drawing on the South Centre’s Policy Brief 136, five key lessons are presented: integrating AMS into pandemic preparedness plans, enhancing AMR surveillance, improving diagnostic infrastructure, promoting rational antibiotic use, and advancing a One Health approach. The presentation concludes with a set of actionable policy recommendations, calling for global leaders to prioritise AMS in emergency planning, enforce regulatory measures, and ensure equitable access to stewardship resources. These insights are essential to building resilient health systems prepared for future pandemics.