Leveraging local public health to advance antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) implementation and mitigate antimicrobial...

To explore the role of local public health organisations in antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) surveillance.

A scoping review was conducted. Peer-reviewed and grey literature from countries within the organisation for economic co-operation and development was searched between 1999 and 2023 using the concepts of local public health, AMR and AMS. Thematic analysis was performed to identify themes.

There were 63 citations illustrating 122 examples of AMS and AMR surveillance activities with local public health involvement. Common AMS activities (n = 105) included healthcare worker education (n = 22), antimicrobial use (AMU) evaluation (n = 21), patient/public education (n = 17), clinical practice guidelines (n = 10), and antibiograms (n = 10). Seventeen citations described local public health activities in AMR surveillance; the majority focussed on communicable diseases (n = 11) and/or AMR organisms (n = 6).

Local public health capabilities should be leveraged to advance high-impact activities to mitigate AMR, particularly in the areas of knowledge translation/mobilisation, optimising surveillance and establishing strategic collaborations.

Future work should focus on better understanding barriers and facilitators, including funding, to local public health participation in these activities.