KHRC Research Fellow, Dr. Afari-Asiedu Shares Insights on Antibiotic Use in Sub-Saharan Africa at 2025 ESCMID Global Conference in Vienna

May 20, 2025 | News Feed | Reading time: 4 min

Dr. Samuel Afari-Asiedu, Research Fellow at the Kintampo Health Research Centre (KHRC) and Investigator for the AntiBiotic ACcess and USe (ABACUS) study, delivered a presentation on community antibiotic access and use in Sub-Saharan Africa at the 2025 ESCMID Global Conference. The conference, organized by the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID), was held from April 11–15, 2025, in Vienna, Austria.

Dr. Afari-Asiedu’s presentation highlighted community-level antibiotic access and usage patterns in Ghana, South Africa, and Mozambique, drawing on multiple research studies conducted under the ABACUS project at KHRC. He highlighted key findings on the drivers of antibiotic consumption—including main sources of supply, weak regulatory frameworks, and widespread inappropriate use—and emphasized the contextual factors at the community level that contribute to the growing threat of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) as well as interventions to improve how antibiotics are dispensed in communities.

His presentation formed part of a specialized session hosted by the ABACUS Consortium, focused on the quality and responsible use of antibiotics in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The session aligned with the conference's broader goal of fostering cross-disciplinary collaboration to address global AMR challenges.

Using a mixed-methods approach that combined household surveys, focus group discussions, and in-depth interviews, the KHRC-led ABACUS in Ghana studies, provided evidence into public perceptions of antibiotics, common self-medication practices, and the compliance of drug sellers with national pharmaceutical regulations. These findings provide important evidence for designing practical, community-informed interventions to improve antibiotic use without restricting access to those in need.

The ABACUS Consortium (https://abacus-project.org/) is a global research collaboration that brings together academic partners from Africa, Asia, and Europe. The consortium has conducted research in multiple phases: ABACUS I explored how people in six low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) access and use antibiotics. Building on findings from ABACUS I, ABACUS II explores how the physical appearance of antibiotics can be standardized to help people recognize and use them correctly. Overall, ABACUS aims to design practical, locally relevant solutions that promote the responsible use of antibiotics while ensuring that those who truly need them can still access them.