20 March 2023 - "Best Practices in Antibiotic Therapy" guide developed within the "SIGMED RO-UA" project

The "Best Practices in Antibiotic Therapy" guide is available for free download on the Crest Association website and contains concrete measures to improve in-hospital protocols to reduce microbial resistance and prevent drug-resistant infections associated with hospital care.

Antibiotic resistance is a major problem with a strong negative impact on health care costs to be borne by health systems. A study prepared in 2019 by ECDC and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, indicates that in the European Union antibiotic resistance is responsible for about 33,000 deaths each year, and around € 1.1 billion is spent by EU / EEA health systems to address the problems caused by antibiotic resistance. In this context, during the period 2020 - 2022 under the coordination of the National Authority for Quality Management in Health, specialists from 5 hospitals in the cross-border area Romania - Ukraine worked together to develop a best practice guide in antibiotic therapy.

The results of the joint work were disseminated during a workshop held on 1-3 March 2023 in Vișeul de Sus, Maramureș county, bringing together 50 representatives of stakeholders from hospitals in the cross-border area.

This guide was developed within the project "SIGMED RO-UA - COOPERATION FOR PATIENT SAFETY", HUSKROUA/1702/8.2/0118 implemented in the period 01.03.2020-31.08.2023 by CREST Association in partnership with the National Authority for Quality Management in Health Care of Romania and the following three organizations in Ukraine: Charitable Fund for the Development of Cross-Border Cooperation and Special Economic Zones, Municipal Nonprofit Organization "Maternity Hospital of the City of Uzhgorod", Municipal Nonprofit Organization "Children's Clinical Hospital of the City of Uzhgorod".

The main objective of the project is to increase the clinical risk management capacity of 5 urban/municipal hospitals along the RO-UA border, facing common patient safety challenges. The specific objectives of the project are:1.To improve the implementation of best practice guidelines for cardiopulmonary resuscitation procedures in 5 targeted hospitals within 24 months; 2.To implement in the 5 targeted hospitals, by the end of the project, a common best practice guideline in the field of antibiotic therapy that responds to the specific challenges of human epidemiology;3.To improve, by the end of the project, the efficiency of communication between healthcare providers in the targeted region to prevent clinical risks associated with patient transfer.

Further information here.