Ahead of the Seventy-second Session of the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Regional Committee (RC72), Member States and partners shared their experiences of addressing antimicrobial resistance during a pre-RC72 Virtual Week session.

Discussions focused on strategies to implement integrated antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) and infection prevention and control (IPC) programmes in primary health care (PHC) facilities, with participants highlighting successful country models, the use of data for monitoring and action, digital innovations that support integrated implementation and the challenges faced in fragile and conflict-affected settings

In the Eastern Mediterranean Region, AMR is associated with nearly 373 000 deaths each year. PHCs, where most antibiotics are prescribed, are on the frontline of efforts to address AMR.

Global Research on Antimicrobial Resistance (GRAM) reports that the Eastern Mediterranean Region has the world’s highest – and fastest growing – antibiotic use. In an attempt to curb this trend countries adopted a regional, people-centered collaborative approach in 2024, aiming to address AMR by building more resilient health systems for UHC and health security.

Primary health care is the foundation of health service delivery, yet IPC practices at the PHC level in the Region are often weak. In many areas, access to water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) is limited; as a result, antibiotics are widely prescribed in PHCs as a substitute for good WASH infrastructure and IPC and immunization services.