[Initiatives to Combat Infectious Diseases through Regional Cooperation]

The rate of detection of various resistant bacteria has recently increased, though the development of antimicrobial agents has been delayed. In the hospital setting, an antimicrobial stewardship team (AST) works to assure that resistant bacteria do not appear, while an infection control team (ICT) works to assure these resistant bacteria do not spread. Additionally, ICT and AST work together on the appropriate use of antimicrobial agents. In order to combat infectious diseases regionally, it will be important for hospitals and pharmacies to share such information as infection control, consumption trends of each antimicrobial agent, and the susceptibility rate of antimicrobial agents. In addition, cooperation between hospitals and community pharmacies is important to assure patients can receive appropriate medical treatment after leaving the hospital. It is essential to have a common understanding of the prevalent infectious disease in order to continuously provide safe and effective drug treatment in the region. Therefore, we propose educating health care professionals about the proper use of antimicrobial drugs through cooperation between hospitals and community pharmacies. In this symposium, we will introduce those infectious control activities a pharmacist will focus on, as well as the proper use of antimicrobial agents, and regional cooperation activities.