Nana Frimpong Manso Adakabre, Adesuahene of Agogo traditional area in the Ashanti Region is encouraging researchers to provide more feedback and education to the communities they engage for their research activities.

He believes this is crucial for societal transformation.

“The community is very fortunate to have had an engagement with the Kumasi Centre for Collaborative Research in Tropical Medicine [KCCR] concerning the research on AMR. We are so happy to have first-hand information on the research. We are grateful to KCCR for giving us this education,” he said.

“We are equipped. Yes, we have been informed, so as participants for this programme we are willing to sensitize the community on whatever we have learnt over here today.

“Like Oliver Twist, we call on KCCR for more of such research,” he requested.

He made this call at the Antimicrobial Resistance -Behaviour – Change stakeholder engagement workshop coordinated by the Kumasi Centre for Collaborative Research in Tropical Medicine, (KCCR), the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), and the Noguchi Memorial Institute.

The research underscores the urgency of addressing antimicrobial resistance on a global scale and holds the potential to revolutionize the fight against this growing health threat. This comprehensive initiative takes a multifaceted approach.

The first phase of the project involved gathering baseline data on AMR pathogens in the food supply chain and among humans, creating an inventory of antibiotics at national and local levels, examining professionals' perceptions of antibiotics and AMR, exploring waste management practices for antibiotic residues, and assessing knowledge and perceptions of AMR in communities.

The current phase adopts a design thinking approach to develop interventions for AMR, engaging community members, healthcare professionals, and institutional stakeholders in deliberative workshops.

Nana Frimpong Manso Adakabre was happy the engagement had been fruitful.

“Some of us, for the past five years, have not been to the hospital. Every time we simply go and buy drugs.

“We all have health insurance yet when I am sick, I go to the drugstore to purchase medication.

“As we continue this practice our system becomes resistant to antibiotics,” he shared.

Head of the Environmental Unit at Agogo Presbyterian Hospital, Andrew Glover Doku was glad the education and information dissemination has been beneficial to the Agogo community.

“The project was done in Agogo, and looking at how good and innovative this research has been, it has helped us and improved the activities of Agogo and its environment.

“Education about not abusing antibiotics such that they affect humans and their activities has been helpful. The use of antibiotics by farmers has improved through this research,” he said.

Dr Aurelia Souares, the Co-Principal Investigator for this AMR B-Change Project shared, “We had a great three-day meeting where we were able to communicate our research findings to the population, get their feed and their opinion, and what will be helpful for them on the topic of antibiotics and antimicrobial resistance.

“We also explained to them what the situation was currently in their setting, through the measurements we made in microbiology, humans and animals. We observed a lot of resistance and it is important to be able to develop some intervention.

“That is why within these three days… we came to involve the community in the decision-making process and in deciding what would be good for them,” she said.

Farmers at the workshop pledged to propagate the knowledge they have gained from the workshop.

One of them, Aboagye said, “The things I have learned, I will not keep to myself. I will take it home to all my family and friends so that we all work the best way we can in order to remain healthy.

“I will tell them to go see the doctor when they are sick instead of purchasing drugs on their own."