Project “Educate, Advocate, and Act,” by Health Intel Trust and Triple A, Supported by the South Centre
As the world marked the Antimicrobial Awareness Week 2024, Health Intel Trust and Alliance Against Antimicrobial Resistance (Triple A) joined forces under the aegis of South Centre to make a collaborative contribution towards the global campaign against antimicrobial resistance.
These organizations devised a project branded the “Educate, Advocate, and Act” project, which imitates the exact wording of the theme for this year’s AMR Awareness Week.
The project, which was conducted in three phases, featured participants from across the nation, with some 15 states being represented within the cohort. The first phase (18th-19th November) involved a virtual training session for participants, who numbered about 150. They were taught effective AMR advocacy strategies and tools by finely trained facilitators. The second phase (20th-22nd November) marked the actual implementation of skills learnt in the first phase, with participants deploying the advocacy measures in their communities under the guidance of facilitators. The third phase (23rd and 24th November) convened governmental personalities and stakeholders, again virtually, to hear participants share their advocacy experience and form a potent network of activists and policymakers to advance the cause of AMR awareness.
Furthermore, a total of 14 “AMR champions” were chosen from 14 of the states identified to have highest prevalence of resistant microbes. These champions were tasked with coordinating the AMR effort of participants from their respective states. The champions and their delegates lived up to expectations, with the AMR message being taken to one or more livestock markets, secondary schools, university campuses, religious institutions, healthcare facilities, among others, in the various states.
Evaluation of success largely took the form of post-sensitization questionnaires, which revealed marked improvement in the general AMR awareness of the persons sensitized. Social Media engagement of AMR-themed posts was also appraised as part of the evaluative process, and appreciable figures were found out, in terms of likes, reposts, and impressions.
Some notable challenges encountered during the project efforts included the language barrier between participants and locals, poor reception from some subjects, and logistical hurdles.
The South Centre showed great financial generosity which fueled in no small measure the laudable achievements of the project. Future collaborations seem highly probable, and the results appear promising.
Contact
Yusuf Babatunde
Director of Programs, HealthIntelTrust