4.3 Data for action

The purpose of collecting and analysing the AMR surveillance data is to inform public health actions. Therefore, a major consideration for establishing a WGS system for AMR surveillance is whether there is political commitment to use the data. This commitment should ideally be codified within legislation, policy or regulations. If political commitment and laws exist for the phenotypic surveillance system, they will need to be built upon to also support the use of WGS. Policy-makers and stakeholders should be introduced to the benefits of WGS for AMR surveillance and they should be trained in how to interpret and use the new data.

Ideally, WGS data should be integrated into national AMR or One Health surveillance and reporting systems as soon as possible. This will allow the health system to take advantage of the new data for detecting community or hospital outbreaks. The addition of this new type of data may require upgrades to the current system and staff training in how to upload and use the new data (Rebelo, 2022).