CHALLENGES IN IMPLEMENTATION OF ANTIMICROBIAL STEWARDSHIP PROGRAMS IN SAUDI HOSPITALS

Rising AMR rates, widespread antibiotic abuse, and concerns about the development of resistance to life-saving antibiotics have all been reported by Saudi hospitals in recent years. Appropriate antimicrobial use must be reduced, and so must the rates of antimicrobial resistance, immediately. Improving patient health outcomes, decreasing drug usage, and halting the spread of AMR all result from antimicrobials being used correctly. As such, the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Health's Pharmacists' Strategic Plan included the launch of the country's national antibiotics stewardship program (ASP) in 2014. There is some evidence that ASPs have been implemented in different Saudi tertiary hospitals and medical cities. Some of these implementations include developing antibiotics prescribing policies through drug classification and the target demographics. However, full implementing the ASP guidelines are major issues in Saudi hospitals. Common challenges that clog the wheel of this implementation present as systemic problems. They include patients factors such as the need for patient satisfaction, prescribe factors which include the desire to maintain trusts, hierarchy issues among prescribes, poor team work among healthcare team, etc. Other factors are administrative and facility-based issues which are linked to poor training programs, lack of personnel and poor coordination. These challenges could be effectively overcome if there’s a superior surveillance mechanism from the central ministry of health. At the hospital levels, close monitoring and attention in addition to collaboration will provide solutions to ASP guidelines implementation problems.