A Multi-Center Study to Measure the Performance of Antimicrobial Stewardship in 14 Hospitals Across Nigeria: Needs Assessment

Antimicrobial resistance is a significant global health problem that is increasing worldwide. About 700,000 people die each year from antimicrobial resistant infections. This coupled with the high burden of infectious disease, a high population density, and weak health systems makes Nigeria a priority country for interventions targeted at reducing the occurrence of resistant infections and ultimately lowering the disease burden. One way to achieve this is by instituting Antimicrobial Stewardship Programs (ASPs) in our health facilities which aim at improving patient health outcome. The extent to which this has been achieved in Nigeria is unknown and this paper seeks to explore this. We conducted a cross sectional study on 14 hospitals selected from six states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in Nigeria. The study utilises a questionnaire designed and scripted into Open Data Kit (ODK) to assess the needs of an ASP in a hospital setting. We found that only a few hospitals have AMS structures in place 11(78.6%). In addition, patients are not engaged in AMS activities across hospitals which is a requirement for ASPs to be successful. Overall, the study has identified gaps in the AMS program which can be leveraged to improve AMS within hospital settings. Moreover, the results underscores the urgent need to establish and strengthen AMS programs in Nigeria to help reduce the disease burden and improve health outcomes of the population.