HPRU researcher, Esmita Charani visited Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences to see the implementation of antimicrobial stewardship in action

NIHR Health Protection Research Unit (HPRU) researcher Esmita Charani has spent two weeks at Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences in Kochi, India as part of her research into the implementation of antimicrobial stewardship in different healthcare settings. The visit included spending time in government and private hospitals in India in the state of Kerala. Kerala, is the first state in India to launch a state wide antimicrobial stewardship programme.

The programme was officially opened in 2016 by Prof Alison Holmes, HPRU Director as a guest speaker. During her visit to India, Esmita was invited to speak to the Doctorate of Pharmacy students and graduates at the Amrita University. Esmita presented to the students the role of clinical pharmacists in the antimicrobial stewardship programmes in the UK. Amrita is leading a programme of including clinical pharmacists in the antimicrobial stewardship programme at the institute and the talk was an opportunity for the clinical pharmacists and the pharmacy graduates to learn from the UK model and to become more involved in antimicrobial stewardship in India.