Dr. Alvin Chua and Professor Hsu Li Yang from the NUS Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health (SSHSPH) participated in a national workshop on antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) held from 1 to 2 September 2025 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
Organised by the Ministry of Health Cambodia and funded by the International Centre for Antimicrobial Resistance Solutions (ICARS), the workshop was supported by the World Health Organization (WHO) and core partners including the National Institute of Public Health, Calmette Hospital, Angkor Hospital for Children, KHANA, and NUS SSHSPH.
The event also marked the Official Launch of the AMS-HICAP Implementation Research Project, a new initiative funded by ICARS to strengthen AMS capacity in hospitals across the country. Dr. Chua and Prof. Hsu had previously collaborated with ICARS and the Cambodian core partners to develop the project.
The workshop brought together healthcare leaders from hospitals, universities, and international organisations to discuss the responsible use of antimicrobials and strategies to combat antimicrobial resistance (AMR). In his opening remarks, His Excellency Professor Chheang Ra, Minister of Health Cambodia, called for coordinated national and sub-national efforts to preserve the effectiveness of antimicrobials, improve health outcomes, and reduce costs.
Key recommendations included promoting responsible prescribing, enhancing training in universities, strengthening AMS and infection prevention and control (IPC), supporting laboratory collaboration, sharing AMR data, and advancing research partnerships.
Following the workshop, the core team conducted site visits to hospitals in Phnom Penh. These visits provided valuable insights into microbiology laboratories, IPC units, pharmacy services, and clinical wards, highlighting both progress and challenges in implementing AMS programmes.