A pharmacist-led prospective antibiotic stewardship intervention improves compliance to community-acquired pneumonia guidelines in 39 public and private hospitals across South Africa.

Introduction: Pharmacists in low-middle-income countries (LMIC) are few and lack antibiotic stewardship (AS) training. The ability was assessed of non-specialised pharmacists to implement stewardship interventions and improve adherence to the South African community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) guideline in public and private hospitals.

Methods: This was a multicentre, prospective cohort study of adult CAP patients hospitalised between July 2017 and July 2018.

Global contributions of pharmacists during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Throughout the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) global pandemic, pharmacists were rarely mentioned as essential frontline health care providers by the news media, the public, or politicians. Around the world, pharmacists are working on the frontlines of health care every day providing essential health care services during the pandemic. Pharmacists are medication experts providing patient care in a variety of settings including hospitals, clinics, community pharmacies, long-term care, physician offices, and national and public health.

From guidelines to practice: a pharmacist-driven prospective audit and feedback improvement model for peri-operative antibiotic prophylaxis in 34 South African hospitals.

Background: Few data exist on the implementation of process measures to facilitate adherence to peri-operative antibiotic prophylaxis (PAP) guidelines in Africa.

Objectives: To implement an improvement model for PAP utilizing existing resources, in order to achieve a reduction in surgical site infections (SSIs) across a heterogeneous group of 34 urban and rural South African hospitals.

Methods: A pharmacist-driven, prospective audit and feedback strategy involving change management and improvement principles was utilized.

Antimicrobial stewardship across 47 South African hospitals: an implementation study.

Background: The available data on antimicrobial stewardship programmes in Africa are scarce. The aims of this study were to assess the implementation of an antimicrobial stewardship programme in a setting with limited infectious disease resources.

Methods: We implemented a pharmacist-driven, prospective audit and feedback strategy for antimicrobial stewardship on the basis of a range of improvement science and behavioural principles across a diverse group of urban and rural private hospitals in South Africa.

Antimicrobial Stewardship with Pharmacist Intervention Improves Timeliness of Antimicrobials Across Thirty-three Hospitals in South Africa.

Introduction: Ensuring timely administration of antimicrobials is critical in the management of patients with infections. Mortality increases by 7.6% for every hour of delay in the administration of antimicrobial therapy in patients with sepsis.