2 The function of national AMR surveillance systems

The function of a national AMR surveillance system should incorporate the six GLASS objectives as detailed above. As mentioned earlier, for the purposes of this course we will focus on human health and related issues. Not all countries will follow the GLASS format, but the principles are applicable to any similar surveillance system.

The GLASS initiative is designed to encourage the development of national AMR surveillance systems, with the WHO compiling data submitted at a national level into an annual report which allows international comparisons. Surveillance should primarily be a locally led activity. Recording and reporting AMR at the national level is an important part of a coherent and joined-up national strategy to tackle AMR.

We will now discuss the key features of national AMR surveillance systems, as recommended by WHO GLASS. More details of these are available in a checklist and questionnaire that the WHO has prepared for those planning national surveillance systems (WHO, 2016a). The checklist and questionnaire are designed to be comprehensive and not every item will be appropriate for every country.

The checklist and questionnaire ask for information about current surveillance of AMR in humans; the comprehensiveness of any national AMR surveillance reports produced; the national action plan (NAP) for combating AMR (if any); national coordination centres and/or national reference laboratories, and their remit; priority pathogen-antimicrobial combinations for surveillance, and issues related to data quality. It ends with a question about the country’s readiness to enrol in GLASS and to submit data.