A free online programme developed by the Fleming Fund and The Open University to strengthen the global response to antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has been relaunched with updated content across all 25 courses.
The online professional development programme Tackling Antimicrobial Resistance supports practitioners in adapting, building expertise, and applying new skills and knowledge to change work practices and improve AMR data surveillance. Since its launch in 2021, the programme has received over 75K visits.
AMR is an issue of great global concern. Health economists estimate that, by 2050, AMR could result in $100T in lost economic activity and up to 10M deaths each year if current trends continue. The Fleming Fund focuses on low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) because they bear the heaviest consequences of drug-resistant infections.
OU researchers monitoring the [Fleming Fund AMR] programme’s impact have consistently found compelling evidence of how the courses are helping professionals transform their practice.
Professionals involved in AMR-related roles across the One Health sectors: human, animal, and environmental, are essential for mitigating the impacts of AMR. There is widespread recognition of the need to provide learning opportunities as AMR-related knowledge and practice evolve. The Tackling Antimicrobial Resistance online programme’s primary aim is to help professionals in Fleming Fund-supported countries to enhance their work practices in their relevant roles.
The Open University (OU) has been the Fleming Fund global learning partner since 2018, tasked with producing the workforce development programme online. OU researchers monitoring the programme’s impact have consistently found compelling evidence of how the courses are helping professionals transform their practice.
One learner reflected: “Before these modules, I was not conscious [of AMR] [...] My practice is completely changed after reading these modules.” And another learner commented: “After going through the online modules and then the training − now, we double-check everything, every result that goes out of the lab […] So, it has brought an improvement in our work.”
The structure and interactivity of the courses have also been widely praised: “This particular [AMR learning ] toolkit is unique. We’ve never had something like this […] designed in such a way that it’s optimally interactive. It is not one person talking and the rest of the people listening. […] It is a more effective way of actually learning on the job than what we’ve been doing previously.”
Over 7,400 learners have enrolled and earned 3,600 digital badges recognising their learning through the courses. A considerable proportion of those learners are from Fleming Fund-supported countries and other LMICs.
The online programme comprises 25 short courses and a practice toolkit. The courses are organised into ten learning pathways tailored to professionals’ specific job roles. Learners choose and work through each six-hour course at their own pace.
Four new AMR specialist courses have been commissioned and will be released later in 2025 to extend the breadth of topics covered in the programme.
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